SUGAR  BEET  SEED 

History  and  Development 


BY 
TRUMAN  G.  PALMER 

AUTHOR  OF  "SUGAR  AT  A  GLANCE,"  "BEET  SUGAR  INDUSTRY 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,"    "CONCERNING  SUGAR,"  ETC. 

Since  iqoz  Executive  Secretary  American  Beet  Sugar  Ass'n; 

U.  S.  Beet  Sugar  Industry  ;    U.  S.  Sugar  Manufacturers' 

Association;  Fellow  of  Royal  Statistical  Society ,  London; 

Member  Societt  Technique  et  Chiutique  de  Sucrerie  de 

Belgique,  Brussels;   Academy  of  Political  Science  ; 

National  Institute  of  Social  Sciences;  A  merican 

Society  of  Political  and  Social  Science ,  etc.,  etc. 


FIRST    EDITION 


NEW  YORK 

JOHN   WILEY   &    SONS,    INC. 

LONDON:  CHAPMAN  &  HALL  LIMITED 

1918 


Copyright,  1918 

BY 
TRUMAN  G.  PALMER 


>•.,« 


PRES9   OF 

BRAUNWORTH    &    CO. 

BOOK    MANUFACTURERS 

BROOKLYN.    N.    Y. 


PREFACE 

PERHAPS  the  greatest  achievement  in  plant  breed- 
ing has  been  reached  by  those  scientists  who  have 
directed  their  study  and  applied  their  knowledge  to  the 
amelioration  of  the  sugar  beet. 

The  main  object  sought  in  breeding  sugar-beet  seed 
has  differed  from  the  objects  sought  in  the  development 
of  other  seeds,  in  that  neither  the  appearance  nor  the 
flavor  of  the  resultant  plant  or  fruit  has  been  the  ob- 
jective; even  the  increase  in  size  has  been  of  minor 
importance.  The  main  quest  of  the  scientists  who  have 
given  their  life  studies  to  the  amelioration  of  the  beet, 
has  been  to  change  the  ratio  of  its  chemical  constitu- 
ents by  eliminating  a  portion  of  its  other  substances 
and  replacing  them  with  sugar. 

At  the  time  the  beet-sugar  industry  was  established 
in  France  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  sugar  was  selling 
at  30  cents  per  pound,  but  with  the  entrance  of  the 
temperate  zone  as  a  competitor  with  the  tropics  in 
the  production  of  sugar,  the  price  of  that  product  began 


377750 


iv  PREFACE 

to  decline  and  a  lower  cost  of  production  became  im- 
perative, if  the  industry  were  to  survive. 

Prior  to  the  war  in  Europe  the  price  of  sugar  was 
less  than  one-sixth  of  what  it  was  when  the  beet-sugar 
industry  was  first  established  and,  although  great  im- 
provements have  been  made  both  in  field  work  and  in 
factory  processes,  the  ability  of  the  industry  to  produce 
sugar  at  present  prices  is  due  to  the  painstaking  efforts 
of  scientific  seed  breeders  who  have  quadrupled  the 
original  sugar  content  of  the  beets.  However  valuable 
have  been  the  results  of  study  in  other  lines  of  devel- 
opment, it  must  be  conceded  that  the  quality  of  sugar- 
beet  seed  is  the  keystone  of  the  arch  upon  which  rests 
an  industry  that  annually  provides  the  world  with 
one-half  of  its  total  supply  of  sugar. 

So  important  seemed  the  objective  sought  by  the 
seed  breeders,  that  for  many  years  the  experiments 
were  conducted  with  the  utmost  secrecy,  and  even  yet, 
the  growers'  methods  are  treated  as  trade  secrets. 
The  result  is  a  dearth  of  literature  relating  to  this 
subject. 

The  observations  made  in  the  following  pages  are 
based  upon  information  obtained  in  1908,  1910,  and 
1911,  while  visiting  sugar-beet  seed  farms  in  Europe. 
For  information  and  courtesies  extended  on  these 


PREFACE  V 

trips,  the  author  wishes  to  express  his  thanks  and  high 
appreciation  to  Dr.  Lewis  S.  Ware  of  Paris,  author  of 
"Sugar  Beet  Seed";  M.  Philippe  de  Vilmorin,  of 
Vilmorin,  Andrieux  &  Co.,  sugar-beet  seed  growers, 
Paris;  Mr.  Ernst  Giesecke,  Director  Clerc  and  Captain 
Troje  of  Rabbethge  &  Giesecke,  sugar-beet  seed  growers, 
Kleinwanzleben,  Germany;  Mr.  J.  P.  Dud  ok  van 
Heel,  of  Kuhn  &  Co.,  sugar-beet  seed  growers,  Naar- 
den,  Holland;  Mr.  M.  Ritter  von  Wohanka,  Dr.  H. 
Briem  and  Mr.  K.  Rossam,  of  Wohanka  &  Co.,  sugar- 
beet  seed  growers,  Prague  and  Yenc,  Bohemia.  The 
author  also  wishes  to  thank  the  following,  who  have 
reviewed  portions  of  his  manuscript:  Dr.  Harvey  W. 
Wiley,  who  supervised  the  raising  of  the  first  com- 
mercial sugar-beet  seed  grown  in  America;  Dr.  Hans 
Mendelsohn,  who  for  several  years  past  has  been  in 
charge  of  extensive  sugar-beet  seed  operations  in  Colo- 
rado, Nebraska,  and  Montana;  Dr.  C.  0.  Townsend, 
director  of  the  sugar-beet  seed  experiments  conducted 
by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  and 
Mr.  W.  K.  Winterhalter,  who  manages  large  sugar- 
beet  seed  farms  in  Idaho. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PACI 

INTRODUCTION ix 

OBJECTIVES  AND  PROBLEMS e  i 

BREEDING  NEW  TYPES 5 

SUPER-ELITE,  ELITE,  AND  COMMERCIAL   SUGAR-BEET  SEED.  8 

TIME  REQUIRED  IN  WHICH  TO  PRODUCE  SUGAR-BEET  SEED.  10 

DISTRICTS  WHERE  GROWN 1 1 

SOIL  AND  FERTILIZATION 12 

PLANTING    SUPER-ELITE    SEED    FOR    GROWING    "MOTHER 

BEETS" 15 

FIRST  PHYSICAL  SELECTION 17 

SECOND  PHYSICAL  SELECTION „  19 

FIRST  CHEMICAL  SELECTION 21 

SECOND  CHEMICAL  SELECTION 25 

PLANTING  AND  CULTIVATING  SELECTED  "MOTHER  BEETS "..  26 

PLANTING  "ELITE "  SEED 29 

GERMINATION  TESTS 30 

HARVESTING,  THRESHING  AND  CLEANING  SUGAR-BEET  SEED  32 

PURCHASERS'  GUARANTEE 37 

AMERICAN-GROWN  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 46 

STATE  OF  WASHINGTON  SUGAR-BEET  SEED  FARM 51 

SEED  GROWING  IN  CALIFORNIA 60 

SEED  GROWING  IN  UTAH  AND  IDAHO 61 

SUGAR-BEET  SEED  EXPERIMENTS  IN  SOUTH  DAKOTA 62 

SINGLE -GERM  BEET  BALLS 68 

SUGAR-BEET  SEED  SITUATION  IN  1914,  1915  AND  1916 84 

IMPORTANCE  OF  DOMESTIC  SUGAR-BEET  SEED  PRODUCTION.  .  89 

WORLD  PRODUCTION  OF  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 97 

UNITED  STATES  PRODUCTION  OF  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 109 

STATISTICAL  TABLES 115 

vii 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  sugar  beet  is  one  of  the  most  scientifically  bred 
plants  in  the  world.  Other  plants  are  bred  for  bulk 
or  beauty  or  flavor,  but  the  sugar  beet  is  bred  for  its 
chemical  constituents;  not  for  the  plant  itself,  but  for 
its  resultant  product,  sugar,  which,  by  the  aid  of  the 
light,  is  gathered  wholly  from  the  atmosphere  at  the 
under,  outer  edges  of  the  leaves  and  from  there  is  car- 
ried through  the  leaf  and  leaf-stalks  and  deposited  in 
the  root. 

Beginning  with  a  little  scraggy,  irregular-shaped 
plant  which  weighed  but  a  few  ounces,  and  in  France 
yielded,  only  5.89  tons  per  acre  in  1812,  the  botanical 
wizards  have  developed  a  large,  regular-shaped,  one 
and  one-half  to  two  pound  root  which  in  Germany, 
the  greatest  beet-sugar  producing  country,  yields  an 
average  of  about  14  tons  per  acre  from  1,300,000  acres. 
More  important  even  than  the  increase  in  size  has 
been  the  increase  in  sugar  content.  Originally  contain- 
ing but  4  to  5  per  cent,  of  sugar,  of  which  Achard  in 

ix 


X  INTRODUCTION 

1812  was  able  to  recover  2.27  per  cent.,  beets  now  con- 
tain 1 6  to  20  per  cent,  of  sugar,  85  per  cent,  of  which  is 
recoverable.  As  a  result  of  the  increase  of  both  ton- 
nage and  sugar  content,  Germany  now  harvests  as 
much  sugar  from  one  acre  as  Achard  harvested  from 
17  acres. 

These  results  have  been  accomplished  by  the  appli- 
cation of  the  most  painstaking,  patient,  scientific  labor, 
which  for  generations  has  been  devoted  to  the  breeding 
of  sugar-beet  seed  and  by  the  application  of  improved 
agricultural  and  manufacturing  methods. 

Botanists  have  succeeded  in  modifying  almost  every 
characteristic  which  the  beet  possessed  at  the  outset, 
even  to  its  habit  of  seeding  and  perpetuating  its  species. 
Originally  an  annual,  as  are  many  of  the  wild  beets 
to-day,  it  sent  up  its  seed  stalks  and  produced  its  seed 
the  year  it  was  planted,  but  the  early  botanists  trained 
it  to  devote  all  of  its  energies  the  first  year  to  develop- 
ing its  root  and  to  delay  its  reproductive  labors  until 
the  following  season. 

To  cause  it  to  produce  seed,  the  root  is  dug  in  the 
fall  and  laid  away  where  it  will  neither  freeze  nor  heat 
and  when  replanted  in  the  fields  the  following  spring 
it  sends  up  its  seed  stalks;  the  seed  is  ready  to  harvest 
in  the  autumn. 


> 

INTRODUCTION  Xi 

A  few  obstinate  plants  occasionally  revert  to  the  former 
habits  of  the  race,  and  these  are  useless  for  breeding 
purposes,  but  with  the  great  mass  of  them  the  biennial 
seeding  characteristic  has  become  fixed.  That  it  still 
has  a  high  regard  for  its  ancestry  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  if  by  chance  the  seed  from  an  annual  beet 
be  planted,  it  produces  an  enormous  proportion  of 
annuals,  which  are  of  inferior  value  even  for  factory 
purposes. 

As  an  annual,  it  ceased  to  grow  and  to  gather  sugar 
by  the  middle  of  the  season  and,  to  feed  and  nourish  its 
seed  stalks  and  seed,  it  began  to  use  up  the  sugar  it 
already  had  gathered.  The  result  was  that  when 
autumn  came,  the  exhausted  fibrous  roots  contained  but 
little  sugar;  the  only  valuable  portion  was  the  seed. 
Due  to  the  skill  of  the  plant  wizards,  it  now  devotes 
all  its  energies  the  first  year  to  developing  a  large  hand- 
some root  and  storing  it  with  sugar,  the  gathering 
of  which  continues  to  the  harvest  time,  storing  sugar 
even  after  the  root  has  ceased  to  grow. 

The  well-shaped,  high  sugar  content  beets  which  are 
destined  for  breeding  purposes  the  following  year,  if 
they  measure  up  to  the  fixed  standards,  are  known 
as  " mother  beets."  They  are  dug  in  the  fall,  siloed 
and  examined  during  the  winter  and  planted  the  fol- 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

tewing  spring,  when  they  put  forth  their  seed-stalks 
and  yield  their  seed  in  the  autumn,  a  year  and  a  half 
from  the  time  the  seed  originally  was  planted. 

As  an  annual,  little  or  no  opportunity  was  given  to 
the  botanist,  and  none  to  the  chemist,  to  study  the 
characteristics  of  the  beet,  for  the  growth  of  the  root 
is  impeded  if  tampered  with  during  the  growing  season. 
Having  been  trained  to  defer  its  seeding  until  the  second 
year,  the  botanists  and  chemists  are  given  a  free  rein 
and  a  golden  opportunity  to  examine  with  the  utmost 
minuteness  every  physical  and  chemical  property  of 
both  the  inside  and  outside  of  the  root,  before  determin- 
ing whether  or  not  to  replant  it  the  next  spring  and 
allow  it  to  go  to  seed. 

As  a  result,  both  the  weight  and  sugar  content  of 
the  beet  have  been  increased  several  hundred  per.jfent., 
and  so  valuable  has  it  become  for  sugar-making  purpHD- 
that  it  supplies  one-half  the  sugar  of  the  world,  an 
economic  blessing  to  the  people  who  consume  sugar 
and  wish  to  purchase  it  as  cheaply  as  possible. 

But  the  change  in  the  habit  of  seeding  is  only  one  of 
many  changes  which  have  been  effected  in  the  character 
of  this  plant.  Indeed,  scarcely  an  original  characteristic 
has  been  left  it,  aside  from  the  fact  that  it  still  grows 
with  its  leaves  in  the  air  and  its  root  in  the  ground.  . 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

During  the  last  century,  the  botanists  have  not  only 
changed  the  color  of  the  neck  of  the  beet  from  red  to 
rose,  from  rose  to  gray,  from  gray  to  green  and  from 
green  to  white,  but  they  have  changed  the  color  of  the 
beet  itself  from  red  to  white,  back  to  red  and  finally 
back  to  white,  its  present  color. 

They  trained  it  to  bury  itself  and  grow  entirely  be- 
neath the  surface  of  the  soil.  They  then  changed  their 
minds  and  trained  it  to  grow  as  much  above  as  be- 
neath the  soil.  Finally  they  led  it  back  and  caused  it 
to  grow  entirely  beneath  the  surface  with  only  the 
leaves  and  crown  exposed  to  the  air. 

The  texture  of  its  skin  and  of  the  root  itself  has  under- 
gone a  marked  change,  as  has  also  the  proportion  of 
sugar  to  the  other  solids  in  the  root. 

The  number  of  its  leaves,  their  shape,  their  veins, 
their  shade,  their  position  and  the  length  of  their 
stalks,  all  have  been  modified  by  the  botanist. 

As  to  shape,  they  have  been  made  to  outdo  all 
the  acts  of  a  contortionist,  having  assumed  no 
less  than  eleven  different  shapes  in  a  little  over  a 
half  century,  as  will  be  noted  from  the  following 
illustration,  reproduced  from  Dr.  Lewis  S.  Ware's 
"Sugar  Beet  Seed." 

To-day,  pivoting  or  slender  shapes  are  used  exclu- 


XIV 


INTRODUCTION 


Olive. 


Large  Neck, 


Small  Neck. 


Short. 


Pivoting.       Slender.  Forked 

TYPES  OP  BEETS 

From  "  Sugar  Beet  Seed,"  by  Dr.  Lewis  S.  Ware,  Orange  Judd  Co., 

Publishers. 


INTRODUCTION  XV 

sively  for  factory  purposes,  though  some  of  the  other 
shapes  still  are  used  for  stock  beets. 

In  bringing  the  sugar  beet  to  its  present  degree  of 
perfection,  the  study  has  been  the  quicksand  in  which 
have  been  buried  more  promising  hopes  and  theories 
than  have  gone  down  with  scores  of  other  plant  studies. 
But  in  working  out  every  known  theory  concerning 
each  characteristic  of  this  pliable  plant,  the  chaff  has 
been  separated  from  the  wheat  and  the  sugar  beet  has 
become  one  of  the  valuable  crops  of  the  world. 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

Its  History  and  Development 


OBJECTIVES  AND  PROBLEMS 

Beta  Vulgaris  is  one  of  many  hundred  varieties  of 
the  family  to  which  the  sugar  beet  belongs  and  it  is 
identified  botanically  with  the  ordinary  garden  beet. 
It  is  known  to  have  existed  and  to  have  been  used 
for  food  since  the  time  of  the  Romans,  but  through 
special  selection  and  culture  during  recent  years,  various 
characteristics,  such  as  shape,  size,  color,  texture,  and 
the  character  of  the  foliage  have  become  fixed. 

No  special  interest  was  centered  in  the  beet  until 
the  publication  in  1747  of  Marggraf's  pamphlet,  in 
which  he  set  forth  his  discovery  that  the  beet  contained 
a  small  quantity  of  true  cane  sugar,  of  which  he  had 
succeeded  in  recovering  a  quantity  of  crystals. 

In  1799,  Achard,  a  pupil  of  Marggraf,  presented  to 


.    • 
SUGAR:BEET  SEED 


the  King  of  Prussia  a  few  pounds  of  sugar  which  he  had 
succeeded  in  producing  from  beets,  with  the  result 
that  in  1801,  the  King  financed  for  him  the  erection  of 
a  small  factory  in  Silesia,  the  first  beet-sugar  factory 
in  the  world.  Of  all  the  beets  experimented  with  by 
Achard,  the  White  Silesian  gave  the  best  results  and 
this  variety  has  been  used  for  breeding  purposes  by 
seed  growers  throughout  Europe. 

Vilmorin,  of  France,  originated  the  idea  of  selecting 
beets  according  to  quality  and  therefore  is  the  father 
of  modern  beet  breeding.  At  an  early  date,  he  com- 
menced growing  beets  by  selection,  but  it  was  not 
in  til  1830  that  his  work  assumed  real  proportions, 
after  which  the  improvement  was  rapid  and  soon  was 
taken  up  at  Quedlinburg,  in  the  Province  of  Saxony, 
Germany. 

Vilmorin 's  first  method  of  selection  was  by  specific 
gravity,  a  method  which  had  been  in  use  in  Germany 
for  testing  potatoes.  Whole  beets  were  dipped  in  a 
salt  solution  of  certain  strength.  The  beets  which 
floated  were  rejected,  while  the  heavier  beets,  which 
sank  in  the  brine,  were  selected,  it  being  presumed  that 
they  were  universally  higher  in  sugar  content. 

Although  it  later  was  found  that  the  specific  gravity 
of  the  beet  was  not  correlated  to  the  percentage  of 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  3 

sugar  in'  the  beet,  Vilmorin  made  such  progress  in 
increasing  the  sugar  content  of  the  beet,  that  in  1837 
the  " Vilmorin  Original"  seed  sold  at  25  to  75  cents 
per  pound,  as  compared  with  6|  cents  for  Quedlinburg 
seed.  In  1850  he  published  his  pamphlet  on  increas- 
ing the  sugar  content  of  the  beet,  and  in  1856  he  began 
to  breed  by  selection  and  to  take  note  of  the  texture 
of  the  skin.  It  was  then  that,  for  the  first  time,  the 
question  of  creating  a  new  variety  was  discussed. 

Meanwhile,  the  polariscope  had  been  invented,  by 
which  the  sugar  content  of  the  beets  could  be  tested 
with  mathematical  precision.  This  instrument  in  its 
present  form  was  built  by  Ventske,  who  pointed  out  the 
use  of  the  instrument  for  seed  beet  selection  in  1851, 
after  which  Vilmorin  adopted  it,  followed  by  Rabbethge 
&  Giesecke  in  1862. 

In  1859  Rabbethge  &  Giesecke  established  a  sugar- 
beet  seed  farm  at  Klein  Wanzleben,  near  Magdeburg, 
which  since  has  grown  to  be  the  most  extensive  sugar- 
beet  seed  enterprise  in  the  world,  comprising  13,000 
acres  in  Germany  and  Russia  and  employing  several 
million  dollars  of  capital.  The  following  year,  1860, 
this  firm  commenced  to  breed  a  new  type  of  beet  which 
has  been  strictly  adhered  to  ever  since,  and  to-day 
the  standard  brands  of  beet  seed  of  the  world  are  a 


4  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

combination  of  the  "Vilmorin  Original"  and  the  German 
" Klein  Wanzleben."  * 

*  All  the  great  plant  breeders  who  have  devoted  their  lives 
to  the  amelioration  of  the  beet  seem  to  have  contented  them- 
selves with  breeding  from  some  variety  of  the  garden  beet,  of 
whose  early  ancestry  or  origin  they  know  nothing.  Ages  before, 
the  garden  beet  was  bred  up  from  the  wild  beet,  and  the  early 
selections  of  the  wild  plant  may  or  may  not  have  been  the  best 
from  which  to  breed  for  sugar-making  purposes.  It  seems  strange 
that,  so  far  as  appears,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  breed  sugar 
beets  from  some  of  the  numberless  varieties  which  grow  on  the 
shores  of  the  Adriatic  and  Mediterranean  seas.  Dr.  Townsend, 
Pathologist  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  has  made 
some  preliminary  experiments  in  this  direction  and  has  secured 
some  remarkable  results,  securing  fairly  good-sized,  well-shaped 
beets  the  first  generation,  which  yielded  14  per  cent,  of  sugar. 

The  European  breeders  labored  for  several  decades  before  they 
succeeded  in  bringing  the  garden  beet  up  to  14  per  cent,  sugar, 
and  it  is  possible  that  from  some  of  the  wild  varieties  a  yield 
will  be  obtained  which  will  astonish  the  world. 

Another  surprise  may  come  from  seed  grown  in  Alaska,  some 
sections  of  which  have  a  summer  warmth  which  corresponds 
with  that  of  Washington,  D.  C.  The  vegetables  thfcre  produced 
are  of  a  very  superior  quality.  As  the  leaves  of  the.  beet  gather 
sugar  from  the  atmosphere  by  the  aid  of  the  light^  it  seems 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  in  a  latitude  where  in  the  growing 
season,  the  light  is  continuous,  the  extra  quantity  of  light  may  ma- 
terially increase  the  quantity  of  sugar  which  the  leaves  will  gather. 
Experiments  with  sugar-beet  seed  soon  will  be  made  in  Alaska. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


BREEDING  NEW  TYPES 

The  process  of  breeding  new  types  of  sugar  beets 
usually  is  as  follows:  Some  one  variation  from  the  usual 
is  noted  in  an  individual  beet  or  in  a  family  of  beets. 
These  beets  then  are  photographed  and  the  seed  from 
each  " mother"  or  the  outcome  of  a  group  of .." mothers" 
is  kept  separate  and  grown  separately  for  successive 
generations.  The  selected  " mother"  first  is  planted, 
her  seed  is  sown  and  the  resultant  roots  are  selected, 
all  which  differ  from  the  original  "mother"  being  thrown 
out.  By  modifying  the  variations  in  sugar  content, 
size,  shape,  leaves,  etc.,  a  new  family  or  strain  is  created, 
the  characteristics  of  which  will  be  transmitted  through 
several  generations,  thus  attaining  one  of  the  main 
objects,  which  is  constancy.  Oftentimes,  after  the 
expenditure  of  years  of  effort,  the  accidental  introduction 
of  one  poor  seed  beet  spoils  a  whole  family. 

Nor  can  the  painstaking  work  cease  after  the  char- 
acteristics of  a  family  have  become  fixed,  for  while  the 
beet  has  a  tendency  to  resemble  its  parent,  it  may  revert 
at  any  time  and  resemble  some  early  ancestor.  Any 
departure  from  the  regular  yearly  methods  of  selection 
and  regeneration  will  cause  it  to  revert  to  a  lower  form 


6  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

and,  to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  blood,  it  is  con- 
stantly interbred  with  new  standard  varieties. 

The  work  is  infinite  and  must  be  continued  year  after 
year,  generation  after  generation,  and  century  after 
century,  so  long  as  beets  continue  to  be  grown  for 
their  sugar  product. 

Beets  resemble  the  human  species,  in  that  the  best 
results  are  to  be  obtained  neither  by  breeding  too 
closely  as  with  the  marriage  of  cousins,  nor  by  inter- 
mingling races.  Knauer  maintained  that  all  existing 
varieties  of  sugar  beets  came  from  one  of  five  starting 
points:  ist,  Belgian;  2d,  Quedlinburg;  3d,  Silesian; 
4th,  Siberian;  5th,  Imperial  beet. 

The  problem  in  beet-seed  culture  is  to  breed  a  seed 
which  will  produce  beets  that  not  only  will  be  satis- 
factory in  sugar  content  and  tonnage,  but  which  will 
give  like  or  better  results  from  year  to  year.  In  the 
early  stages  of  the  work,  this  quality  was  lacking; 
sugar  factories  could  not  depend  upon  either  tonnage 
or  sugar  content. 

European  beets  have  been  tested  running  20  and 
even  22  per  cent,  sugar,  but  experiments  in  breeding 
made  with  these  very  high  testing  beets  have  resulted 
in  comparatively  inferior  roots.  Inasmuch  as  when  the 
approximate  state  of  perfection  has  been  reached  in 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  7 

plant  breeding,  an  increased  tendency  to  revert  appears, 
the  invariably  discouraging  results  secured  from  breed- 
ing these  extraordinarily  high  sugar  content  beets 
have  led  many  to  believe  that,  so  far  as  Europe  is  con- 
cerned, the  limit  of  perfection  has  been  reached  in 
breeding  sugar-beet  seed  by  methods  heretofore  used 
and  that  the  most  that  can  be  accomplished  by  these 
methods  is  to  reach  and  maintain  the  high  standard 
which  has  been  reached  by  the  leading  growers. 

Some  seed  growers  have  attempted  to  produce  a 
different  seed  for  each  character  of  soil,  as  well  as  for 
different  climates,  but  except  where  the  difference  in 
soil  or  climate  is  marked,  these  efforts  have  not  met 
with  success. 

At  one  time,  claims  were  made  that  certain  seeds  would 
mature  a  month  earlier  than  other  seeds;  these  claims 
were  found  to  be  fallacious.  Some  leading  seed  growers 
of  the  world  market  three  varieties  of  seed:  one  which 
is  high  in  sugar  and  low  in  tonnage,  one  which  is  high 
in  tonnage  and  low  in  sugar,  and  one  which  is  moderately 
high  in  both  sugar  and  tonnage.  But  so  closely  do 
all  the  brands  of  any  grower  approximate  his  other 
brands  that  when  the  supply  of  one  runs  short,  it  is 
surmised  that  orders  for  it  are  filled  by  substituting 
his  other  brands. 


8  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

While  there  are  and  always  will  be  great  differences  in 
expertness,  there  are  no  secrets  in  the  breeding  of 
sugar-beet  seed.  The  conditions  which  cause  vari- 
tions  are  known,  as  are  also  the  meaning  of  the  various 
characteristics  of  the  foliage  and  of  the  beet  itself. 
A  proper  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  these  con- 
ditions and  characteristics,  coupled  with  methodical, 
careful  attention,  will  bring  results  which  will  differ 
only  because  of  the  degree  of  expertness  of  those  en- 
gaged in  the  work,  and  a  knowledge  of  essential  facts 
which  only  can  be  ascertained  after  years  of  systematic 
work. 

SUPER-ELITE,  ELITE,  AND  COMMERCIAL  SUGAR- 
BEET  SEED 

Sugar-beet  seed  is  divided  into  three  classes :  super- 
elite,  elite,  and  commercial.  Both  the  elite  and  super- 
elite  seed  are  the  seed  obtained  from  laboratory  mother 
beets  which  have  successfully  passed  every  physical 
and  chemical  examination  to  which  they  have  been 
subjected.  The  seed  from  those  mothers  which  were 
truest  to  type  and  yielded  the  highest  results  in  their 
various  examinations  is  kept  separate  from  all  other 
seed  and  is  used  for  breeding  purposes.  This  is  known 
as  "  super-elite  "  seed  and  is  never  sold.  It  is  priceless. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  9 

Whatever  value  has  been  acquired  by  years  of  patient 
scientific  work  on  the  part  of  the  seed  grower  is  repre- 
sented by  this  super-elite  seed,  which  easily  might 
be  worth  $250  to  $1000  per  pound. 

The  balance  of  the  seed  from  the  original  laboratory 
mother  beets,  all  of  which  had  to  pass  the  various  exam- 
inations successfully,  but  which  tested  slightly  lower 
in  some  characteristic  than  did  the  mothers  whose 
seed  was  selected  to  be  used  for  breeding  purposes,  is 
known  a^  '" elite"  seed.  This  elite  seed  is  used  to  grow 
a  crop  ,<p  stecklinge"  mothers,  or  " stick"  mothers, 
so  named  because  of  the  fact  that  the  seed  being  planted 
alid  allowed  to  grow  thickly,  the  beets  grow  long  and 
slender,  and  these  " stecklinge"  mothers  could  be  planted 
by  pressing  a  pointed  stick  into  the  well-prepared 
ground,  and  after  removing  the  stick  the  beet  could  be 
inserted  in  the  hole. 

Commercial  beet  seed  is  the  product  of  the  "steck- 
ling"  mothers,  thus  commercial  beets  are  two  removes 
from  the  original  laboratory  beets,  which  are  their 
grandmothers. 


10  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


TIME    REQUIRED    IN    WHICH   TO    PRODUCE 
SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

Starting  with  a  certain  strain  of  seed  from  which  to 
breed,  five  years  of  painstaking,  scientific  work  are 
required  before  the  resultant  crop  of  commercial  beets 
is  harvested. 

First  Year.  Say  that  in  the  spring  of  1916,  the  orig- 
inal selected  and  pedigreed  super-elite  seed  is  planted. 
In  the  fall,  those  of  the  beets  which  pass  the  physical 
selection  of  both  foliage  and  root  and  a  chemical  test 
of  the  root,  are  siloed  or  placed  in  cellars  for  the  winter, 
where  they  are  kept  from  frost  and  from  heating. 
These  are  known  as  " mother  beets." 

Second  Year.  In  the  spring  of  1917,  these  mothers 
are  uncovered  and,  after  passing  a  second  chemical  test, 
are  planted  in  the  field  and  in  the  fall  yield  a  crop  of 
elite  and  super-elite  seed.  As  the  super-elite  seed  is 
withdrawn  and  used  for  breeding  future  generations  of 
elite  and  super-elite  seed,  it  does  not  continue  in  this 
calculation. 

Third  Year.  In  the  spring  of  1918,  the  " elite"  seed 
is  planted  closely  in  order  to  grow  a  crop  of  long  thin 
beets  called  "steckling,"  which  are  gathered  in  the 
fall  and  preserved  in  siloes  until  the  next  spring. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  11 

Fourth  Year.  In  the  spring  of  1919,  the  "steckling" 
are  planted  and  in  the  fall  they  produce  a  crop  of  com- 
mercial seed  which  can  be  planted  in  the  spring  of  1920, 
producing  beets  from  which  sugar  is  extracted  in  the 
fall  of  that  year,  five  years  from  the  time  the  scientific 
work  began. 

DISTRICTS  WHERE  GROWN 

The  territory  which  is  adapted  to  the  production  of 
sugar-beet  seed  is  much  more  restricted  than  is  that 
which  is  adapted  to  the  production  of  commercial  sugar 
beets.  Climatic  and  soil  conditions  which  may  be  excel- 
lent for  the  production  of  factory  beets,  more  often  than 
not  are  unsuited  for  the  production  of  sugar-beet  seed. 

Germany  produces  more  sugar-beet  seed  than  does 
any  other  country  and  practically  all  of  it  is  grown 
in  the  Province  of  Saxony,  where  the  best  sugar-beet 
seed  land  sells  at  from  $600  to  $1000  an  acre.  Russia, 
the  next  largest  producer  of  seed,  has  two  important  seed 
districts,  one  in  Poland,  one  about  Kieff.  Nearly  all 
of  the  French  seed  is  produced  in  the  Departments  of 
Nord  and  Aisne;  the  Austrian  seed  is  produced  in  the 
Provinces  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  Smaller  quan- 
tities are  produced  in  Italy,  The  Netherlands,  and 
Brabant,  Belgium.  In  the  United  States,  considerable 


12  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

quantities  of  beet  seed  are  produced  in  Utah,  Idaho, 
Montana,  and  Colorado,  and  a  small  quantity  in  Mich- 
igan. 

But  even  where  soil  and  climatic  conditions  are 
favorable,  only  a  small  portion  of  the  land  can  be  de- 
voted to  growing  sugar-beet  seed.  The  flower  is  not 
a  self-fertilizer,  but  is  rich  in  pollen  and  is  fertilized 
from  the  pollen  of  other  neighboring  beet  flowers. 
As  the  pollen  is  carried  great  distances  by  the  wind  and 
the  plant  suffers  from  atavism,  beet-seed  farms  must 
be  widely  separated,  else  hybrid  beets  result.  It  is 
not  safe  to  have  breeding  fields  located  within  a  half  a 
mile  of  each  other,  as  one  low-grade  beet  going  to  seed 
in  the  midst  of  selected  seed  beets  will  so  affect  its 
neighbors  as  to  destroy  the  value  of  the  surrounding 
seed  for  a  considerable  area. 

SOIL  AND  FERTILIZATION 

Even  where  climatic  conditions  are  favorable,  it 
was  thought  at  one  time  that  this  highly  organized 
plant  would  not  yield  as  good  results  on  flat  land  as 
on  hill  sides,  especially  those  with  a  southern  ex- 
posure, but  in  recent  years  it  has  seemed  to  do  equally 
well  on  flat  as  on  hilly  ground. 

As  to  soil,  the  mother  beet  is  most  exacting,  both  as 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  13 

to  character  and  richness,  for  it  can  supply  but  one- 
tenth  of  the  potassic  and  lime  salts  which  are  needed 
for  the  seed;  the  balance  is  drawn  from  the  soil. 

By  scientific  fertilizing,  inferior  soils  frequently  are 
brought  to  such  a  state  of  productiveness  that  this 
discriminating  plant  will  thrive,  but  until  such  time  is 
reached,  only  the  richer,  and  sometimes  irregular  sec- 
tions of  a  field  are  devoted  to  mother  beets,  and  the 
poorer  portions  are  devoted  to  other  crops. 

As  the  rows  of  beets  are  made  to  run  around  oblong, 
triangular  and  irregularly  shaped  patches  of  inferior 
soil,  the  fields  have  the  appearance  of  having  been 
planted  in  a  very  haphazard  manner,  but  when  one 
examines  the  soil  map,  he  discovers  that  the  field  is 
planted  in  exact  conformity  with  the  map. 

Simply  to  "fertilize"  the  soil  does  not  meet  the  re- 
quirements. It  must  be  "  scientifically  fertilized,"  else 
the  resultant  seeds  are  more  subject  to  the  attack  of 
parasites  and  micro-mushroom  ravages. 

In  order  to  develop  the  plants  as  quickly  as  possible, 
the  soils  are  provided  with  ample  quantities  of  phos- 
phoric acid,  potash,  nitrogen,  lime  and  magnesia.  On 
the  seed  farm  of  M.  Legras,  in  Aisne,  France,  as  noted 
by  Dr.  Ware,  were  many  different  kinds  and  qualities 
of  soil,  all  of  which  eventually  were  brought  to  a  state 


14  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

of  perfection  by  scientific  fertilization  and  intense  culti- 
vation. Since  raising  his  soils  to  the  desired  state, 
M.  Legras  annually  uses  nearly  3500  tons  of  fertilizer 
on  his  75o-acre  farm.  The  amount  of  study,  research 
and  scientific  experimentation  which  has  been  devoted 
to  this  work  readily  can  be  understood  by  noting  the 
kinds  and  proportions  of  fertilizer  M.  Legras  uses,  which 
are  as  follows: 

Per  Cent. 

1 760  tons  of  barnyard  manure 50 . 58 

950  ' '  defecation  scums  from  beet-sugar  factory  27 . 30 

220  "      leaves  and  necks  of  beets 6.32 

161  "      woolen  waste 4 . 63 

108  ' '      furnace  slag 3  . 10 

60  "      oilcake 1.72 

60  ' '      phosphate 1.72 

52  "      sodic  nitrate i .  50 

30  "      fish  guano o .  86 

24              potassic  chloride o .  69 

21  "  double  phosphate  potassium  and  magnesia  0.60 

15  ' '      sulphate  of  ammonia o .  43 

10  ' '      dried  blood 0.29 

9  ' '      super-phosphate 0.26 

3480  "  100.00 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  15 


PLANTING    SUPER-ELITE    SEED    FOR    GROWING 
"MOTHER  BEETS" 

Sandy  loam  soils  offer  the  least  physical  and  chem- 
ical obstacles  for  developing  uniform  beets,  true  to 
type,  and  hence  are  preferred  to  the  heavier  clay  soils. 
The  soils  of  the  fields  used  for  growing  the  selected 
super-elite  seed  are  placed  in  excellent  chemical  and 
physical  condition.  They  are  fertilized  scientifically 
and  worked  thoroughly  to  great  depth  until  the  best 
garden  conditions  have  been  attained. 

To  avoid  errors  resulting  from  local  conditions,  field 
trials  of  selected  strains  of  beet  seed,  to  be  planted 
for  the  purpose  of  breeding  " mother  beets,"  are  con- 
ducted on  more  than  one  farm,  and  oftentimes  in  more 
than  one  section  of  the  country. 

Ten  or  twelve  pounds  of  the  super-elite  seed  is  re- 
quired for  each  acre.  It  is  planted  by  hand  or  by  drills 
and  covered  to  a  depth  of  f  of  an  inch.  As  there  still 
is  a  diversity  of  opinion  regarding  the  most  desirable  size 
of  mothers,  and  as  the  closer  they  grow  the  less  size  they 
attain,  the  spacing  varies  from  8X8  to  12X12  inches. 

The  spacing  demands  experience  and  cannot  be  con- 
ducted by  ordinary  field  workers.  The  cultivating  and 


16 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  17 

hoeing  is   frequent   and   thorough   until   such   time  as 
further  field  work  would  injure  the  leaves. 

Any  roots  which  miss  or  show  degeneracy  either  are 
replaced  by  other  beets  specially  grown  for  this  pur- 
pose, or  by  turnips,  in  order  that  all  will  receive  a  like 
amount  of  nourishment.  If  at  harvest  time  any 
vacant  spaces  are  found,  the  surrounding  beets  are 
weighed  and  50  per  cent,  of  their  weight  is  deducted, 
as  it  has  been  shown  by  careful  experiments  that  they 
increase  to  that  extent  by  reason  of  being  isolated. 

FIRST  PHYSICAL   SELECTION 

Having  planted  super-elite  seed  in  the  spring  and  grown 
the  beets  to  maturity,  in  October  the  first  physical  se- 
lection, which  has  to  do  with  the  foliage,  is  made.  The 
expert,  and  he  must  be  a  trained  and  discriminating 
expert  who  has  devoted  years  to  the  work,  goes  slowly 
through  the  field,  row  by  row,  placing  a  stake  beside 
each  beet  the  leaves  and  crown  of  which  meet  his 
approbation.  It  may  be  one  in  twenty-five,  or  one  in 
a  hundred — he  misses  none  which  reach  the  standard; 
he  stakes  none  which  are  not  up  to  standard. 

As  by  the  aid  of  the  light,  the  sugar  is  gathered  from 
the  atmosphere  by  the  outer  under  edges  of  the  leaves 
and  from  there  is  carried  down  and  stored  in  the  root, 


18  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

the  leaves  play  an  important  part  in  the  elaboration  of 
sugar  and  no  detail  is  too  small  for  consideration. 

Beets  with  very  small  or  deformed  or  badly-shaped 
leaves  are  not  selected  for  mothers.  Oblong  leaves 
indicate  higher  sugar  content  than  round  leaves  and 
pointed  leaves  always  are  low  in  sugar. 

If  the  leaf  has  a  large  nerve  in  the  center,  without 
intersecting  nerves,  the  beet  is  low  in  sugar.  Three 
central  nerves  and  partially  developed  cross  nerves  are 
what  is  desired.  The  wrinkles  on  the  leaves  indi- 
cate sugar — the  greater  the  number  the  higher  the 
sugar  content.  Dark,  rather  than  light-green  leaves 
are  sought;  reddish  leaves  indicate  a  beet  of  poor 
quality.  The  texture  and  fringes  and  the  length  of  the 
leaf  stalks  all  have  a  meaning  to  the  expeit  who  is 
breeding  to  create  or  perpetuate  an  individual  type. 
Outspreading  leaves  indicate  more  sugar  than  upright 
leaves  where  the  sun  cannot  reach  their  surfaces  as 
readily,  but  if  the  leaves  lie  too  flat,  they  will  be  broken 
off  with  the  cultivator  and  thus  cease  to  perform  their 
function  of  gathering  sugar. 

The  percentage  of  sugar  increases  with  the  number 
of  leaf-circles,  of  which  there  should  be  not  less  than 
eight.  One  of  Pellet's  observations,  made  with  Vil- 
morin  seed,  was  as  follows: 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  19 

Number  of  Per  Cent.  Sugar 

Leaves.  in  Beet. 

42  15-7 

39  14-8 

3i  13-8 

23  12.2 

IQ  II.7 

The  size  of  the  crown  of  the  beet  also  is  noted,  for  it 
must  be  neither  too  large  not  too  pinched. 

It  required  generations  of  study  and  experimentation 
to  be  able  to  read  these  and  numerous  other  signs 
which  indicate  the  breeding  qualities  desired  of  a 
beet,  but  now  they  are  as  an  open  book  to  the  trained 
eye  of  the  expert  who  stakes  the,  beets  whose  foliage 
and  crown  meet  his  approbation. 

SECOND  PHYSICAL  SELECTION 

Having  passed  their  first  physical  selection,  the 
beets  which  are  staked  and  are  destined  for  "mothers" 
are  carefully  dug,  when  the  roots  themselves  are 
examined  as  carefully  as  were  the  leaves.  They  must 
be  of  good  size  and  length;  not  too  short  or  their 
radicles  will  not  draw  sufficient  moisture  and  nourish- 
ment from  the  soil;  not  too  long  and  slender  or  they 
will  lose  their  tips  when  plowed  out.  If  the  taper 
begins  near  the  top,  the  tonnage  will  be  low;  they 


20  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

must  be  of  good  size  for  a  considerable  distance  below 
their  point  of  greatest  diameter. 

The  texture  and  color  of  their  skin  are  important 
considerations;  the  tougher  the  skin,  the  richer  is 
the  beet  in  sugar. 

Two  spiral  depressions  always  should  extend  from 
the  neck  down,  filled  with  a  hairy  growth,  as  the  hairs 
aid  in  extracting  from  the  soil  the  maximum  amount 
of  plant  food. 

They  should  be  as  regular  as  though  made  in  a 
mold.  Irregular  shaped  beets  are  not  easily  cleaned, 
the  adhering  dirt  dulls  the  beet  knives,  hence  the  slicing 
is  poorly  done,  the  cossettes  do  not  give  satisfaction 
in  the  diffusion  battery,  and  owing  to  the  dirt  the 
juices  are  impure. 

The  beets  which  pass  the  second  physical  selection 
are  tagged  with  a  card  bearing  a  number  and  printed 
form  upon  which  each  mark  of  the  pedigree  and  qualities 
can  be  noted  in  detail,  and  each  beet  is  photographed. 

The  leaves  are  removed,  weighed  and  the  weight 
is  noted;  the  beets  selected  are  carefully  laid  away. 
The  other  beets  are  dug  and  used  for  making  sugar. 
In  November  and  December  a  further  physical  exam- 
ination is  made  of  the  beets  which  have  been  selected 
for  mothers.  After  passing  through  an  automatic 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  21 

washer,  they  are  spread  in  a  slightly  warmed  room 
to  dry  and  to  afford  convenient  study  of  shapes, 
color  and  texture  of  skin. 

Beets  which  fail  to  meet  every  requirement  are 
sliced  and  used  for  sugar.  Those  which  are  selected 
are  weighed  on  a  self-registering  scale,  after  which 
they  are  carefully  laid  away. 

Carefully  as  were  made  the  selections  in  the  field, 
but  5  to  8  per  cent,  of  the  beets  which  are  staked  in 
the  field  ever  pass  these  subsequent  examinations 
and  reach  the  chemical  laboratory,  in  which  a  large 
percentage  of  those  which  have  met  the  physical 
requirements  are  rejected. 

FIRST  CHEMICAL  SELECTION 

As  when  medicine  fails  and  the  human  patient  is 
placed  upon  the  surgeon's  operating  table,  so  these 
Adonis-like  beets  which  have  had  every  part  of  their 
exteriors  examined  with  microscopic  thoroughness 
now  must  have  their  interiors  opened,  examined  and 
analyzed,  for  the  physical  points  of  the  outside  are 
but  indications  of  what  the  interiors  contain,  the  latter 
being  the  chief  consideration. 

The  composition   of   the  beet  should  be  uniform, 


22  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

as  that  facilitates  the  manipulation  of  the  juices  in 
factory  treatment.  When  sent  to  the  laboratory, 
each  beet  has  a  vertical  hole  drilled  into  it  reaching 
to  the  center,  and  the  extracted  pulp  is  weighed  and 
divided  into  not  less  than  three  samples,  each  of 
which  is  analyzed.  The  laboratory  tests  give  the 
per  cent,  of  sugar  in  the  beet  and  in  the  juice,  the 
dry  extract  of  the  juice  and  the  purity  coefficient  or 
solid  substances  other  than  sugar.*  To  prevent  de- 

*  In  the  juices  of  the  beet  are  many  salts,  or  solids,  in 
solution.  The  solids,  other  than  sugar,  are  called  impurities 
and  these  impurities  act  as  a  resistant  to  the  process  of  extracting 
the  sugar.  As  the  sugar  and  other  solids  are  made  in  the  field 
and  not  in  the  factory,  it  is  important  to  know  the  proportion 
between  sugar  and  total  solid  substances  and  to  breed  for  higher 
sugar  content.  If  a  beet  contains  18  per  cent,  of  solid  substances, 

N        16X100 
of  which  1 6  per  cent,  is  sugar,  then  — - —  =  purity  coefficient 

Io 

=  88.8.  Not  less  than  80  per  cent,  of  the  solid  substances  should 
be  sugar.  In  1915  the  average  purity  coefficient  of  beets  grown 
in  California  was  82.65;  Colorado,  84.84;  Idaho,  87.14;  Michi- 
gan, 84.08;  Utah,  85.06.  In  Germany,  the  purity  coefficient 
rarely  falls  below  87  and  frequently  exceeds  90,  and  therefore 
from  a  given  grade  of  beets  showing  a  like  polarization,  the 
extraction  of  sugar  per  ton  of  beets  is  greater  in  Germany  than 
in  the  United  States.  In  a  technical  article  in  "The  Beet  Sugar 
Gazette"  of  July,  1901,  the  writer  states  the  effect  of  impurities 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


23 


terioration,    the   holes   made   by    the    rasp   are   filled 
with  clay  or  sprayed  or  sprinkled  with  charcoal. 

In  one  establishment,  60  people  make  as  many  as 
10,000  analyses  every  twenty-four  hours.  To  avoid 
injury,  the  beets  which  pass  this  examination  and 
are  destined  for  breeding  are  carried  in  specially- 
constructed  baskets,  cleaned  of  any  adhering  dirt 
and  laid  in  rooms  on  portable  tables,  usually  50  beets 
to  a  table,  where  they  are  examined  a  second  and 
sometimes  a  third  time,  for  checking  purposes;  the 
selection  labors  continuing  through  January,  Febru- 
ary, and  March. 

on  the  extraction  which  can  be  secured  from  a  12  per  cent,  beet 
to  be  as  follows: 


YIELD. 

Molasses. 

Sugar. 

12 

70.0 

5.12 

6.00 

12 

72.5 

4-45 

6.67 

12 

75-o 

3-82 

7.29 

12 

77-5 

3-25 

7.87 

12 

80.0 

2.70 

8.42 

12 

82.5 

2.19 

8-93 

12 

85.0 

1.70 

9.42 

12 

87-S 

1.24 

9.88 

12 

90.0 

0.80 

10.32 

Footnote  continued  on  page  24, 


24 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


All  roots  grown  from  any  one  sample  of  seed  and 
which  prove  to  be  not  as  uniformly  high  in  sugar 
content  and  purity  as  were  the  original  beets  from 
which  the  seed  was  raised  are  discarded.  Less  than 
one-half  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  roots  tested  are  found 
to  be  suitable  for  breeding  purposes. 

After  this  chemical  selection  of  a  breeding  family, 
the  beets  which  meet  the  requirements  are  inspected 
by  the  botanist  and  sugar  content  and  purity  are  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  shape  and  other  external 
qualities.  Then  they  are  laid  away  in  siloes  or  cellars 
which  protect  them  from  heating  and  freezing,  and 
in  the  spring  they  receive  their  final  test. 

The  same  writer  gave  the  following  progress  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  beet  in  The  Netherlands: 


Years. 

Sugar. 

Purity. 

1892-93 

11.88 

84.60 

1893-94 

12.69 

85.30 

1894-95 

12.12 

85.0 

1895-96 

13-79 

87.2 

1896-97 

13.24 

87.4 

1897-98 

14-33 

87.9 

1898-99 

I5-I3 

87.8 

1899-1900 

14-65 

87-3 

ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  25 

SECOND   CHEMICAL  SELECTION 

Although  having  had  their  every  exterior  and  in- 
terior characteristic  examined  with  persistent  minute- 
ness, some  growers  submit  these  wounded,  battle- 
scarred  "  mothers "  to  still  further  mutilation  and 
examination  the  following  spring,  before  they  are  per- 
mitted to  reproduce. 

As  they  are  taken  from  the  silo  in  the  spring,  a 
second  sample  is  taken  from  a  hole  bored  diagonally 
through  the  center  of  the  root  and  tested  in  the  po- 
lariscope  to  determine  the  quantity  of  sugar  lost  during 
the  winter.  If  the  loss  does  not  exceed  a  given  amount, 
the  "  mother "  receives  her  diploma  and  when  the 
season  opens  is  planted  for  seed. 

Before  planting,  every  observation,  test,  and  meas- 
urement which  has  been  made  of  the  mothers  by  the 
botanists  and  by  the  chemists  in  their  various  exam- 
inations is  carefully  written  up  in  their  individual 
pedigrees,  which  are  attached  to  the  photographs 
for  use  and  reference  in  after  years  when  breeding 
new  families,  in  order  to  be  sure  that  the  physical 
and  chemical  characteristics  are  retained. 

One  large  concern  which  claims  to  have  the  records 
and  photographs  of  each  and  every  mother  beet  it 


26 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


has  planted  during  the  past  25  years  produced  from 
their  vaults  almost  instantly  the  complete  detailed 
record  and  the  photograph  of 
every  number  of  mother  beet 

M  ^ 

§    called  for. 


p/j  o 

g    * 

a       3    PLANTING  AND  CULTIVATING 

£     O     ' 

2  §   1 


SELECTED  "MOTHER  BEETS" 


i 


>W         |<H 

g  3    &  Still  handled  carefully  to  avoid 

E  o  o  injury,  the  "mother  beets"  are  con- 

|  §    §  veyed  to  the  fields,  where  they  are 

%  %  planted   by  hand  3X3  feet,  each 

g     O     C/2 

o  £  .2  having  an  area  of  9    square  feet 

j  from  which    to    draw  its    susten- 

p  ance.      That    they  need  all   this 
space  can  be  seen  from  the  accom- 

Tg  panying    illustration,    reproduced 

|  from  Dr.  Lewis  S.  Ware's  "Sugar 

I  Beet  Seed." 

|  The  radicles  of  a  "mother  beet  " 

5  frequently  extend  for  a  distance 

g  of  three    feet   in    every  direction 

PH 

and  thus  when  planted  only  three 


slf. 

15  i" 


feet  apart,  the  roots  interlace  and 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  27 

draw  nutriment  from  every  cubic  inch  of  soil  to  a 
depth  of  several  feet. 

These  " mother  beets,"  which  have  passed  every 
scientific  examination  to  which  they  can  be  subjected 
by  the  botanist  and  the  chemist,  are  of  great  value. 
Not  only  are  they  carefully  guarded  from  theft,  but 
to  secure  .the  maximum  amount  of  mature  seed  from 
a  given  quantity  of  mothers,  wherever  practical  the 
'  'mothers"  are  dismembered  and  planted  in  several  places. 

Nine  square  feet  of  soil  only  will  nourish  a  certain 
number  of  seed  stalks.  A  large  "  mother  "  sends  up 
a  great  number  of  seed  stalks  and  forms  more  seed 
than  can  be  matured.  Suppressing  a  portion  of  the 
stalks  was  tried,  but  the  efforts  were  futile,  and  so, 
except  where  the  "mothers"  are  small,  they  are  dis- 
membered. 

Where  the  "mothers"  are  small,  a  whole  one  is  planted 
in  each  three-foot  square,  but  where  the  mothers  are 
large  and  have  a  great  number  of  leaf  eyes,  they  are 
sliced  vertically,  sometimes  into  as  many  as  twenty 
pieces,  care  being  exercised  to  see  that  each  segment 
contains  a  sufficient  number  of  leaf  eyes  to  furnish 
the  requisite  number  of  seed  stalks.  The  wounds 
are  dressed  with  an  antiseptic  and  one  segment  is 
planted  in  a  place.  Thus  one  mother  may  be  made 


28  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

to  produce  several  times  the  amount  of  seed  which 
it  would  produce  if  planted  in  one  place.  Because  of 
liability  to  attack  by  insects  and  disease,  mothers 
never  follow  a  crop  of  beets. 

After  planting,  the  '"mothers"  are  cultivated  every 
few  days  until  the  foliage  becomes  so  luxuriant  as  to 
prevent  further  field  work.  The  seed  stalks  frequently 
are  five  feet  high. 

The  seed  ripens  in  the  autumn,  but  the  seed  on  all 
the  seed  stalks  of  one  beet  does  not  ripen  at  the  same 
time;  thus  it  is  necessary  to  go  through  the  fields 
several  times,  selecting  and  cutting  the  stalks  on  which 
the  seed  is  ripe. 

The  stalks  of  the  " mothers"  which  have  been  selected 
to  produce  super-elite  seed  with  which  to  perpetuate 
the  breeding,  are  tagged  with  the  corresponding  num- 
bers which  had  been  assigned  to  their  " mothers"  and 
after  they  have  been  dried,  the  seed  of  each  mother  is 
removed  from  the  stalk  and  placed  in  a  separate  bag 
bearing  the  number  of  the  "mother."  After  the  seed 
is  harvested  the  mother  roots  are  removed  from  the 
field  to  prevent  breeding  insects. 

The  balance  of  the  seed  from  the  original  selected 
laboratory  mothers  is  known  as  " elite"  seed  and  is 
estimated  to  cost  from  $4  to  $10  per  pound  to  produce. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  29 

A  1916  shipment  to  the  United  States  of  50  bags  of 
elite  seed  (no  Ib.  per  bag)  was  insured  for  $50,000, 
or  nearly  $10  per  pound.  Elite  seed  is  never  used 
for  producing  a  crop  of  commercial  seed,  but  to  grow 
a  crop  of  long  slender  " mothers,"  called  "steckling," 
which,  in  turn,  produce  the  seed  of  commerce.  Thus 
commercial  beets  are  not  the  children,  but  the  grand- 
children of  the  "  mothers. " 

PLANTING   "ELITE"   SEED 

" Elite"  seed  for  the  production  of  "steckling"  is 
drilled  in  rows  usually  16  inches  apart,  using  10  to 
12  pounds  of  seed  per  acre. 

The  plants  sometimes  are  thinned  to  one  inch 
apart  in  the  rows  and  are  cultivated  the  same  as  are 
commercial  beets.  The  roots  grow  deep  in  the  ground, 
but  only  to  one  or  one  and  one-half  inches  in  size  and 
weigh  from  two  to  ten  ounces. 

The  dwarfing  of  the  diameter  of  the  roots,  caused 
by  growing  closely  in  the  rows,  hastens  their  ripening, 
thus  affording  a  longer  time  for  hardening,  prior 
to  harvesting,  in  consequence  of  which  they  keep 
better  through  the  winter. 

Before  harvesting,  all  the  roots  which  throw  up  any 


30  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

seed  stalks  are  removed.  One  acre  of  "s tedding" 
will  produce  enough  beets  to  plant  many  acres  for 
seed.  It  is  customary  to  defoliate,  or  remove  the 
leaves,  of  the  "steckling,"  after  which  they  are  care- 
fully siloed  in  pits  from  15  inches  to  3  feet  deep,  by 
3  to  4  feet  wide,  where  they  are  protected  from  heating 
or  freezing  by  soil  covering  of  the  required  depth. 

GERMINATION  TESTS 

As  soon  as  any  of  the  seed  has  ripened,  the  ger- 
mination tests  are  begun.  Of  each  average  sample 
of  seed,  two  tests  are  made  for  determining  its  ger- 
minating power.  To  make  this  test,  the  seed  fre- 
quently is  soaked  from  six  to  fifteen  hours  in  sterilized 
water  in  a  room  of  68  to  75  degrees  Fahrenheit,  after 
which  it  is  pressed  into  a  germination  bed. 

One  method  of  testing  is  as  follows:  Germination 
beds  are  made  of  sand,  to  which  moisture  is  added  to 
the  extent  of  60  per  cent,  of  its  water-holding  capacity. 
Deep  plates  are  partially  filled  with  saturated,  sterilized 
sand,  and  with  an  instrument  resembling  a  pill  machine, 
100  indentations  are  made  in  the  sand  of  each  plate. 
One  beet  ball  is  dropped  into  each  indentation,  and 
the  sand  is  smoothed  over  them.  Over  each  pan  is 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  31 

placed  a  glass  cover  on  which  is  recorded  the  kind 
of  seed,  together  with  the  date  of  planting  and  the 
weight  of  the  filled  receptacle,  after  which  it  is  placed 
in  a  room  which  is  kept  at  a  temperature  of  70°  F. 

For  checking  purposes,  all  tests  are  made  in  dupli- 
cate. The  plates  are  weighed  daily  and  sufficient 
weight  of  water  is  added  to  renew  the  loss  by  evap- 
oration. 

The  germination  rooms  are  kept  at  an  even,  exact 
temperature  during  the  day,  sometimes  slightly  raised 
at  night.  After  having  been  placed  in  the  germina- 
tion bed,  the  balls  which  have  germinated  are  counted 
and  noted  daily,  and  the  germs  are  removed.  After 
removing  the  germs  these  balls  are  sometimes  placed 
in  another  germination  bed.  Those  which  have  not 
germinated  remain  in  the  original  bed. 

At  the  end  of  seven  days,  70  per  cent,  of  the  re- 
quired number  of  germs  must  have  germinated,  and 
the  total  required  number  must  have  germinated  by 
the  end  of  fourteen  days. 


32  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


HARVESTING,    THRESHING    AND    CLEANING 
SUGAR-BEET   SEED 

As  with  the  seed  from  selected  mother  beets,  the 
seed  which  grows  from  the  steckling  ripens  unevenly, 
that  on  some  stalks  being  ripe  while  on  other  stalks 
from  the  same  beet  the  seed  is  quite  green.  This 
necessitates  going  over  the  fields  several  times. 

As  the  stalks  are  cut,  they  are  stacked  in  bundles 
to  dry,  after  which  they  are  threshed  with  an  ordinary 
threshing  machine  in  which  the  speed  of  the  cylinder 
has  been  reduced.  The  seed  then  is  conveyed  to 
storage  warehouses.  The  weight  of  seed  and  stalks 
per  acre  runs  from  two  to  six  thousand  pounds,  which 
yields  from  1200  to  2500  pounds  of  seed.  In  Ger- 
many the  yield  is  1600  to  1800  pounds;  in  Russia, 
1200  to  1400  pounds. 

In  the  warehouses  the  seed  is  passed  over  vibrat- 
ing sieves  to  remove  the  dirt,  weed  seed,  and  very 
small  beet-seed  balls,  and  through  winnowing  machines, 
or  fanning  mills  to  remove  the  dust,  blossoms,  and 
light,  undeveloped  seed.  Ordinarily,  it  is  an  easy 
matter  to  remove  all  but  a  small  fraction  of  i  per 
cent,  of  the  inert  matter,  but  as  the  "Magdeburger 
Normen,"  under  which  the  seed  is  sold,  allows. 3  per 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


33 


34  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

cent,  of  dirt  to  be  sold  as  seed,  the  grower  usually 
regulates  the  cleaning  so  as  to  leave  in  the  seed  i\ 
per  cent,  of  dirt,  thus  complying  with  the  fixed  stand- 
ard and  getting  paid  a  good  price  for  a  considerable 
quantity  of  dirt. 

After  being  cleaned,  the  seed  is  carried  by  ma- 
chinery over  stalk-pickers,  inclined  endless  belts  of 
cloth,  from  which  the  seed  rolls  away  and  to  which 
the  remaining  seed  stalks  cling  and  are  carried  to  a 
chute. 

After  the  seed  has  been  cleaned,  it  is  tested  for 
moisture,  which,  under  the  "  Magdeburger  Normen" 
must  not  exceed  15  per  cent,  of  the  weight  of  the 
seed.  If  the  moisture  exceeds  15  per  cent.,  the  seed 
is  dried,  usually  by  artificial  dryers,  and  again  the 
grower  is  careful  not  to  remove  any  more  moisture  than 
is  necessary  to  comply  with  the  fixed  standard.  With 
the  moisture  below  15  per  cent.,  the  seed  will  keep 
for  five  years. 

The  "  Magdeburger  Normen"  fixes  a  standard  for 
germinating  power  and  any  seed  which  does  not  reach 
this  standard  can  be  thrown  back  on  the  grower. 
If  old  seed  falls  below  the  standard  fixed,  to  render 
such  seed  salable,  it  is  blended  with  seed  of  higher 
germinating  power,  after  which  it  is  packed  in  double 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


35 


36 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


If 


PH      o 
O      u 


>  a 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  37 

5^   bushel   bags,    containing    no   pounds,    and   stored 
for  shipment. 

PURCHASERS'   GUARANTEE 

The  standard  fixed  for  sugar-beet  seed  is  known  as 
the  "Magdeburger  Normen"  and  seed  growers  gen- 
erally guarantee  their  seed  to  be  up  to  this  standard, 
which  is  as  follows : 

(1)  Dry  substance,  85  per  cent.,  that  is,  not  over  15  per  cent, 
moisture.     If  over  15  per  cent,  and  not  exceeding  17  per  cent, 
moisture,  deduction  in  price  must  be  made  for  the  missing  dry 
substance.     If  over  1 7  per  cent,  moisture,  seed  can  be  rejected. 

(2)  Seed  shall  be  96  per  cent,  pure,  that  is,  96  per  cent,  of  seed 
balls  which  will  not  pass  through  a  2-mm.  slit  sieve,  but  seed  of 
94.5  per  cent,  purity  is  furnishable  if  the  purity  below  96  per  cent. 
is  allowed  for  at  its  proportion  of  the  purchase  price.     If  less 
than  94.5  per  cent,  pure,  seed  can  be  rejected. 

(3)  Germination  power  must  be,  per  kilogram  (2.2  lb.): 

(a)  In  case  of  large  seed-ball  seed,  60,000  germs; 

(b)  In  case  of  medium  seed-ball  seed,  65,000  germs; 

(c)  In  case  of  small  seed-ball  seed,  70,000  germs. 

At  least  70  per  cent,  of  the  required  germs  must  have  germi- 
nated within  seven  days. 

The  germination  from  100  seed-balls  within  fourteen  days 
must  be  not  less  than: 

(a)  In  case  of  large  seed-ball  seed  80  seed-balls; 
(6)  In  case  of  medium  seed-ball  seed  75  seed-balls; 
(c}  In  case  of  small  seed-ball  seed  70  seed-balls. 


38  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

By  large  seed-balls  is  meant  seed  which  contains  not  more 
than  40  seed-balls  per  gram;  medium,  41  to  50  balls;  small, 
51  or  more  seed-balls  per  gram.  One  hundred  seed-balls  should 
give  not  less  than  125  sprouts  in  seven  days  and  150  sprouts  in 
fourteen  days. 

It  will  be  observed  from  the  above  that  no  guar- 
antee is  made  covering  either  the  sugar  content,  purity 
or  tonnage  which  can  be  expected  from  the  seed. 
For  these  results,  the  purchaser  must  rely  upon  the 
reputation  of  the  seed  grower  and  upon  his  experience 
with  the  various  brands  of  seed  which  have  been  planted 
upon  the  character  of  soil  where  his  factory  is  located. 

Laxity  on  the  part  of  a  grower  means  a  variation 
in  the  results  which  can  be  obtained  from  his  seed; 
even  a  slight  decrease  may  cause  a  loss  of  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars  to  a  factory. 

The  average  yield  of  beets  in  the  United  Stales  is 
about  10  tons  per  acre,  and  to  grow  this  acre  of  beets, 
20  pounds  of  seed  is  used,  or  200,000  pounds  to  plant 
10,000  acres.  A  difference  of  i  cent  per  pound  in 
the  price  of  the  seed  would  amount  to  20  cents  per 
acre  or  $2000  on  10,000  acres.  But  when  difference 
in  price  means  even  a  slight  lowering  in  the  quality 
of  seed,  an  apparent  saving  of  $2000  would  in  reality 
mean  a  material  loss. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  39 


ISOLATED  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

Seed  beet  covered  with  wire  cage  and  tall  muslin  bag  to  give  ample 
room  for  growth  of  seed  stems  and  prevent  overcrowding  of  racemes. 


40  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

The  variation  in  results  secured  from  two  good, 
but  varying  brands  of  seed  might  easily  amount  to 
i  per  cent,  in  the  sugar  content  of  the  beets  or  200 
pounds  of  sugar  per  acre,  85  per  cent,  of  which,  or  170 
pounds  per  acre,  is  recoverable  in  the  factory.  Calcu- 
lating the  value  of  this  sugar  at  4  cents  per  pound,  the 
loss  in  sugar  would  amount  to  $6.70  per  acre  or  $67,000 
on  10,000  acres,  a  net  loss  of  $65,000  on  the  transaction. 

The  lower  tonnage  yield  of  the  inferior  seed  easily 
might  amount  to  one  ton  per  acre;  a  loss  to  the  farmers 
of  $57,000,  thus  incurring  a  total  loss  of  $112,000, 
offset  only  by  a  saving  of  $2000  on  the  price  of  seed. 

At  4  cents  a  pound  for  sugar,  a  seed  which  pro- 
duces a  beet  containing  one  extra  per  cent,  of  sugar  is 
worth  33^  cents  per  pound  more  than  is  the  inferior 
seed.  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  easy  to  understand 
why  many  of  the  great  botanists,  physiologists  and 
chemists  have  devoted  their  lives  to  the  amelioration 
of  the  sugar  beet,  and  why  sugar  factories  do  not  try 
to  save  money  by  purchasing  any  but  what  is  rep- 
resented to  be  the  highest  grade  of  seed. 

In  quality,  the  purchasers  of  beet  seed  may  be 
deceived.  The  harvest  may  be  poor,  or  the  grower 
may  be  careless,  or  worse. 

Words  of  warning  emanating  from  authentic  sources 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  41 

have  not  been  infrequent.  In  Monthly  Consular 
Report  No.  218,  November,  1898,  American  Consul, 
Henry  W.  Diedrich,  then  stationed  at  Magdeburg, 
Germany,  said  in  part: 

"  If  I  may  express  an  opinion,  based  on  my  personal  observation, 
it  is  that  some  of  our  beet  growers  should  insist  more  than  they 
have  upon  getting  none  but  the  best  of  seed,  no  matter  what  the 
price  may  be.  *  *  *  The  first-class  sugar  factories  of  Europe 
buy  none  but  the  very  best  seed,  grown  from  high-grade  indi- 
vidual 'mother'  beets,  to  distribute  among  the  beet  growers; 
thus  not  only  maintaining  the  standard  of  their  sugar  beets 
as  to  quality  and  quantity,  but  also  putting  themselves  in  a 
position  to  compete  in  all  markets  of  the  world.  This  first-class 
seed  is  sold  and  delivered  by  the  growers  on  board  cars  in  the 
Prussian  province  of  Saxony  at  from  8  to  10  cents  per  pound, 
which  is  a  moderate  price,  considering  the  fact  that  it  takes  at 
least  four  years  to  get  it  into  the  market. 

"  There  is  also  a  second-class  seed  offered  for  sale  in  this  country 
at  from  5  to  6  cents  per  pound.  This  is  commonly  called  the 
'nachzuchtsamen,'  being  a  seed  produced  not  from  the  mother 
beets,  but  from  the  first-class  seed  mentioned  above.  This 
inferior  grade,  however,  is  not  used  by  first-class  sugar  men 
in  Germany,  France,  Holland,  and  Belgium,  but  most  of  it  goes 
to  Austria,  Russia,  and  the  United  States.  And  this  is  the 
reason  why  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  call  attention  to  the  importance 
of  getting  only  the  very  best  seed  obtainable." 

After  studying  the  question  for  years,  Mr.  J.  E. 


42  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

W.  Tracey,  Sugar  Beet  Expert  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  said  in  "  Progress  of  the 
Beet-Sugar  Industry  in  the  United  States"  in  1902: 

"  The  beet-sugar  industry  in  now  so  well  established  in  the 
United  States  that  it  would  be  poor  policy  to  depend  longer  on 
imported  seed,  there  being  always  a  possibility  that  by  failure 
of  the  crop,  or  for  reasons  political  or  owing  to  trade  disturbances, 
the  supply  of  seed  may  be  cut  off.  Even  if  this  possibility  is 
regarded  as  remote,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  American  beet- 
sugar  factories  will  never  attain  their  maximum  profit  until  there 
is  beet  seed  especially  produced  to  meet  American  conditions 
of  soil  and  climate." 

The  following  year  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture 
sent  Mr.  Tracey  to  Europe,  where  he  spent  five  months 
on  sugar-beet  seed  farms.  The  1904  Year  Book  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  contained  an  article 
by  Mr.  Tracey  on  the  "  Disadvantage  of  Relying 
upon  Foreign-grown  Seed."  Mr.  Tracey  said  in  part: 

"  While  there  are  careful  and  painstaking  growers  in  France 
and  Germany,  where  the  great  bulk  of  the  sugar-beet  seed  used 
in  this  country  is  produced,  there  are  many  who  are  not  only 
careless  in  their  methods  but  dishonest  in  their  practice  in  handling 
sugar-beet  seed.  They  pose  as  growers  and  claim  to  make  ex- 
tensive analyses  every  year  of  individual  roots,  whereas  in  reality 
they  simply  buy  seed  where  they  can  do  so  most  advantageously, 
regardless  of  its  quality.  A  large  proportion  of  the  seed  used 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  43 

in  the  United  States  is  furnished  by  such  dealers,  while  the 
better  class  of  German  growers,  who,  through  fifteen  or  twenty 
generations  of  plants,  have  conducted  most  careful  field  and 
experimental  trials  and  annually  spend  thousands  of  dollars 
in  testing  individual  roots  and  making  records  and  photographs 
of  them,  sell  but  very  little  seed  here.  This  is  largely  due  to 
the  lack  of  interest  and  failure  on  the  part  of  the  American  seed- 
buyers  in  investigating  the  methods  and  establishments  of  those 
from  whom  they  secure  seed. 

"  The  information  one  generally  secures  from  sugar-beet  seed 
growers,  not  only  as  to  their  own  business,  but  as  to  that  of 
their  associates  as  well,  is  frequently  unreliable.  Exaggeration 
is  very  common,  and  it  is  frequently  impossible  for  an  outsider 
to  reconcile  the  results  of  his  own  observations  with  the  state- 
ments made,  both  in  conversation  and  in  print.  Seed  which  is 
sold  as  having  been  grown  in  the  most  careful  and  scientific 
manner  is  often  actually  the  cheapest  and  poorest  grade  of  seed 
procurable.  It  consists  of  both  new  and  old  seed,  which  has  been 
grown  under  widely  different  conditions  of  soil  and  climate,  and 
is  mixed  together  by  specially  constructed  machinery.  It  is 
explained  that  the  different  lots  of  seed  are  mixed  to  insure 
an  evenness  both  in  the  germination  of  the  seed  and  in  the  quality 
of  the  crop.  The  absurdity  of  mixing  all  kinds  and  grades  of 
seed  to  produce  uniformity  in  the  crop  is  evident. 

"  It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  sugar  beet,  being  one  of 
our  most  highly  bred  plants,  is  very  susceptible  to  the  influence 
of  both  climatic  and  soil  conditions;  hence  seed  should  be  used 
which  was  produced  under  the  most  favorable  conditions  for 
the  production  of  beets  best  suited  to  each  particular  locality. 


44  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

The  best  seed  imported  is  raised  for  the  most  part  under  very 
similar  climatic  and  other  conditions,  but  it  is  sown  here  in 
America  under  all  conditions  and  in  all  soils,  in  New  York  and 
Michigan,  Nebraska  and  Washington,  and  in  the  arid  and  semi- 
arid  regions  of  Utah  and  California.  No  single  strain  can  be 
the  best  for  all  of  these  varied  localities.  We  can  never  expect 
to  secure  the  best  results  in  our  sugar-beet  industry  when  we 
have  such  conditions  in  the  seed  branch  of  the  business. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  GROWING  SUGAR-BEET  SEED  AT 
HOME 

"  It  is  absolutely  essential  to  success  that  we  secure  the  best 
quality  of  seed,  and  past  experience  has  conclusively  shown 
that  we  cannot  depend  upon  doing  so  from  abroad.  We  must 
raise  it  ourselves,  and  in  such  a  careful,  scientific  manner  that 
it  will  not  only  be  of  the  best  quality,  but  will  have  such  char- 
acteristics as  will  make  it  adapted  to  the  particular  needs  and 
requirements  of  the  locality  where  it  is  to  be  sown.  Seed  raised 
on  a  particular  soil  and  under  certain  climatic  conditions  may 
not  be  best  suited  for  planting  in  like  soils  and  under  similar  cli- 
matic conditions;  in  fact,  very  often  it  is  not.  Seed  from  com- 
paratively poor  soil  may  do  best  on  rich  soils,  or  that  raised 
in  the  East  may  do  best  when  sown  in  the  West.  Only  study 
and  personal  experience  on  the  part  of  each  factory  manager 
can  determine  what  seed  is  best  suited  for  the  conditions  in  his 
region. 

"  For  several  years  efforts  have  been  made  to  raise  seed  on 
a  commercial  scale  in  various  sections  of  the  United  States, 
particularly  in  the  States  of  Michigan,  Nebraska,  Utah,  Colo- 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  45 

rado,  and  Washington,  but  not  until  recently  has  any  serious 
attempt  been  made  to  raise  it  from  pedigreed  roots,  or  in  accord- 
ance with  the  scientific  methods  found  to  give  the  best  results. 

EXCELLENCE  OF  AMERICAN-GROWN  SEED 

"  During  the  last  three  years  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
has  been  conducting  extensive  experiments  in  testing  American- 
grown  seed  in  comparison  with  the  best  grade  of  imported  seed 
procurable.  These  experiments  have  shown  a  marked  difference 
in  sugar  content,  purity,  and  yield,  and  in  these  qualities  the 
American-grown  seed  compared  most  favorably  with  the  im- 
ported. This  is  remarkable,  as  the  American-grown  seed  was 
grown  by  seedsmen  who  had  little  knowledge  and  made  little 
use  of  the  scientific  methods  practiced  in  Germany.  If  it  is 
said  that  the  superiority  of  American-grown  seed  in  these  trials 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  imported  European  seed  was  of 
inferior  grades,  then  it  is  high  time  we  gave  up  depending  upon 
Europe  for  our  supply,  as  every  effort  was  made  to  secure  for 
these  comparative  tests  the  best  grades  of  seed  procurable  in 
Europe,  and  the  prices  paid  were  as  high  as  those  paid  by  the 
most  critical  factories  there.  If  it  be  said  that  the  soil  and 
natural  conditions  were  responsible  for  the  superiority  of  the 
American-grown  seed,  it  makes  more  evident  the  desirability 
of  growing  our  own  seed  and  emphasizes  the  importance  of  our 
doing  it  according  to  strictly  scientific  methods." 

As  a  result  of  the  above  and  other  warnings,  Ameri- 
can purchasers  of  sugar-beet  seed  have  become. more 
discriminating  from  year  to  year  and  gradually  they 


46  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

have  weeded  out  the  poorer  brands  of  seed.  This 
discrimination  is  reflected  in  the  extraction  of  sugar 
per  ton  of  beets,  which  has  increased  from  11.59  Per 
cent,  in  1903  to  14.21  per  cent,  in  1915,  an  increase 
of  2.62  per  cent,  or  22.6  per  cent,  more  sugar  extracted 
from  each  ton  of  beets  sliced.  The  tons  of  beets  per 
acre  also  have  increased  and,  whereas  the  yield  of 
sugar  per  acre  was  1984  pounds  in  1903,  in  1915  it 
was  2870  pounds  per  acre,  an  increase  of  44.6  per 
cent.  These  results  are  due  in  part  to  better  seed, 
in  part  to  better  agricultural  methods,  and  in  part 
to  better  factory  results. 

AMERICAN-GROWN   SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 
Sugar-beet  Seed  Experiment  Station  in  Nebraska 

For  a  number  of  years  sugar-beet  seed  has  been 
grown  to  a  limited  extent  in  the  United  States,  and 
most  of  the  seed  here  produced  has  been  superior  to 
the  best  imported  seed. 

The  earliest  recorded  attempt  to  produce  sugar- 
beet  seed  in  the  United  States  was  made  by  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Schuyler,  Ne- 
braska, where  the  Department  established  a  .sugar- 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  47 

beet  seed  Experiment  Station  in  1890.  This  station, 
the  sorghum  stations  in  Kansas  and  the  cane-sugar 
station  in  Florida  were  established  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  at  the  instance  of  Dr.  Harvey 
W.  Wiley,  who  was  Chief  Chemist  of  the  Department 
from  1883  to  1912.  Dr.  Wiley's  interest  in  the  pro- 
duction of  sugar  began  while  he  was  studying  at  Berlin, 
and  for  thirty  years  he  not  only  has  been  an  enthu- 
siastic champion  of  the  idea  of  the  home  production 
of  sugar,  but  his  work  and  his  writings  have  con- 
tributed more  to  the  establishment  of  the  present 
American  beet-sugar  industry  than  have  those  of 
any  other  scientist. 

The  Schuyler  station,  as  well  as  all  other  sugar 
work  of  the  Department,  was  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  Wiley.  The  work  at  Schuyler  was  under  the 
immediate  supervision  of  Dr.  Walter  Maxwell,  Dr. 
Wiley's  assistant. 

The  station  was  not  supplied  with  highly-developed, 
carefully-grown,  expensive  " elite"  seed,  such  as  is 
universally  used  in  Europe  for  breeding  sugar-beet 
seed.  The  best  with  which  it  had  to  operate  was 
ordinary  European  commercial  seed  such  as  is  used 
for  growing  factory  beets. 

In   1891    and    1892    small   quantities  of   seed  were 


48  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

produced  and  in  order  to  determine  its  relative  quality; 
it  was  planted  in  plots  at  the  station,  alongside  of 
other  plots  which  were  planted  with  the  best  foreign 
seed,  of  the  same  and  other  brands.  The  soil  and 
the  care  given  the  different  plots  were  identical. 

It  was  found  that  the  climatic  conditions  at  Schuyler 
were  not  favorable  for  the  production  of  sugar-beet 
seed,  but  notwithstanding  this,  the  lack  of  high-grade 
seed  from  which  to  breed  and  the  lack  of  experience 
in  sugar-beet  seed  production,  the  beets  produced 
from  the  home-grown  seed  out-ranked  in  every  respect 
those  produced  from  the  best  foreign  seed. 

The  results  obtained  are  recorded  in  Bulletins  No. 
39  and  52  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture, 
which  were  prepared  and  written  at  that  time.  The 
following  comment  by  Dr.  Wiley  concerning  the 
results  obtained  at  the  Schuyler  station  are  from 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  Farmer's  Bulletin  No. 
52,  1897: 

"  In  the  experiments  conducted  at  the  station  at  Schuyler 
during  the  season  of  1893  a  comparison  of  the  beets  grown  from 
domestic  and  imported  seeds  was  made.  The  plants  from  the 
native-grown  seed  seemed  to  have  a  higher  vitality  and  to 
be  better  suited  to  the  climatic  conditions  of  the  locality  than 
those  grown  from  imported  seeds.  They  showed  during  the 
growing  season  a  more  abundant  foliage  and  a  better. develop- 


ITS  HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT  49 

ment  of  roots.  The  higher  vitality  and  quality  of  the  beets  grown 
from  domestic  seed  illustrate  in  a  forcible  degree  the  advisa- 
bility of  the  production  of  our  beet-seed  at  home.  Even  granting 
that  seeds  produced  in  foreign  countries  have  the  same  high 
qualities,  it  must  be  admitted  that  their  vitality  is  in  danger 
of  being  very  much  diminished  during  shipment  to  this  country. 
The  moist  air  of  the  holds  of  the  ships  in  which  they  are  trans- 
ported often  produces  moldiness  and  incipient  germination,  which 
tend  to  greatly  diminish  their  value.  Not  only  did  the  beets 
produced  from  the  home-grown  seed  have  a  higher  percentage 
of  sugar,  but  they  also  afforded  a  higher  yield  per  acre,  as  deter- 
mined in  the  experiments  at  Schuyler.  The  mean  tonnage  per 
acre  from  the  home-grown  seed  was  21.1  and  from  the  imported 
seed,  17.9  The  mean  pounds  of  sugar  produced  per  acre  from 
the  home-grown  seed  was  5891  and  from  the  imported  seed 
5185.  This  shows  an  increase  of  about  12  per  cent,  in  the  actual 
quantity  of  sugar  per  acre  when  domestic  seed  was  used.  These 
data  should  be  carefullly  studied  by  all  those  who  are  interested 
in  the  production  of  beet  sugar  in  this  country.  Perhaps  the 
time  has  not  yet  come  for  the  inception  of  such  a  work,  but  it 
is  evident  that  it  will  not  be  long  before  there  will  be  a  demand 
.for  the  establishment  in  this  country  of  a  plantation  or  plan- 
tations devoted  exclusively  to  the  production  of  beet  seeds  on 
the  most  approved  scientific  principles. 

"  The  quantity  of  seed  required  to  plant  an  acre  is  about  15 
pounds.  The  approximate  number  of  acres  planted  to  beets 
in  this  country  during  the  past  season  was  30,000,  requiring 
450,000  pounds  of  seed.  It  is  evident  that  there  is  already 
an  opportunity  for  the  active  operation  of  a  large  plantation 


50  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

devoted  exclusively  to  the  production  of  beet  seeds  for  domestic 
use. 

"  Another  point  to  be  considered  is  that  by  the  importation 
of  foreign  seeds  there  is  danger  of  introducing  those  fungoid 
and  microbian  diseases  of  beets  which  have  produced  such  ravages 
in  Europe." 

Such  high  results  did  this  seed  yield  that  the  Oxnard 
Beet  Sugar  Company  paid  the  Government  20  cents 
per  pound  for  all  it  would  sell,  or  50  per  cent,  more 
than  that  company  then  paid  for  the  best  foreign 
seed. 

With  such  flattering  results,  obtained  under  ad- 
verse circumstances  25  years  ago,  it  is  fair  to  presume 
that  had  this  work  been  continued,  the  United  States 
now  would  be  producing  sugar-beet  seed  which  would 
yield  beets  materially  superior  to  any  now  produced 
in  the  world. 

In  the  political  upheaval  of  1892  Mr.  Cleveland 
became  President,  and  when  Sterling  Morton  assumed 
the  portfolio  of  Secretary  of  Agriculture  he  ordered 
all  Government  experimental  sugar  work  abandoned. 
The  Schuyler,  Nebraska,  and  Sterling,  Kansas,  sugar- 
beet  stations  closed  their  doors.  The  writer  is  in- 
formed that  the  Medicine  Lodge,  Kansas,  sorghum 
plant,  which  had  cost  $20,000  to  build,  had  a  capacity 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  51 

of  20  tons  per  day  and  was  extracting  230  pounds  of 
sugar  per  ton  of  sorghum,  was  sold  for  $1800.  The 
Runnymede,  Florida,  cane-sugar  mill,  which  had  cost 
$18.000  to  erect  and  was  about  to  have  steam  turned 
on  for  the  first  time,  was  sold  for  $2000.  The  beets 
which  had  been  planted  in  the  newly-established 
California  station  rotted  in  the  ground. 

With  the  abandonment  of  this  work  and  the  abolition 
of  the  sugar  bounty,  the  Government  turned  its  back 
on  all  that  pertained  to  the  development  of  a  home 
sugar  industry. 


STATE   OF   WASHINGTON   SUGAR-BEET   SEED 
FARM 

With  the  return  of  the  Republicans  to  power  in 
1896  and  the  appointment  of  James  Wilson  as  Sec- 
retary of  Agriculture,  the  Government  renewed  its 
beet-seed  and  other  sugar  investigation  work,  paying 
especial  attention  to  seed  developments  in  Utah, 
Michigan  and  New  York,  at  all  of  which  places  good 
results  were  obtained. 

The  number  of  beet-sugar  factories  rapidly  in- 
creased and  with  the  erection  of  a  factory  at  Waverly, 
Washington,  Mr.  E.  H.  Morrison,  who  owned  an 


52  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

8oo-acre  farm  in  that  vicinity,  began  growing  several 
hundred  acres  of  beets  for  the  factory. 

Morrison  had  been  growing  vegetable  seed  for  a 
number  of  years  and  in  1899  he  siloed  some  mother 
beets  of  several  different  varieties.  In  1900  he  pro- 
duced a  few  hundred  pounds  of  beet  seed.  The  re- 
sults obtained  from  the  various  brands  of  seed  experi- 
mented with,  indicated  that  the  Klein  Wanzleben 
Original  would  bring  the  best  results,  and  on  this 
variety  Morrison  concentrated  his  work.  As  with 
the  Government  experiments  in  Nebraska  ten  years 
before,  Morrison  had  no  high-priced,  pedigreed  elite 
seed  to  breed  from,  but  began  his  work  with  ordinary 
commercial  seed. 

In  order  to  encourage  the  enterprise,  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  purchased,  tested,  and  distributed 
considerable  quantities  of  the  Morrison  seed.  The 
results  secured  were  flattering.  Morrison  increased 
his  plantings  and  in  1903  produced  35  tons  of  seed, 
and  siloed  a  million  "  mothers  "  to  be  planted  the  fol- 
lowing spring. 

To  determine  the  relative  germinating  value  of 
foreign  and  domestic  seed,  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture tested  9  brands  of  foreign  and  4  brands  of 
domestic  seed.  Among  the  foreign  seed  tested  was 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


53 


Dippe,  Vilmorin,  Rabbethge  &  Giesecke,  Schreiber, 
and  Breustedt.  The  tests  of  domestic  seed  were 
Morrison,  grown  in  the  State  of  Washington;  Utah 
Sugar  Company,  grown  in  Utah;  Agnew,  grown  in 
California,  and  Alma  Sugar  Company,  grown  in  Mich- 
igan. 

Some  of  the  domestic  seeds  tested  fell  below  some 
of  the  foreign  brands,  but  the  Washington  seed  showed 
a  materially  higher  germinating  power  than  did  the 
best  foreign  seed.  The  average  results  secured  from 
the  9  brands  of  foreign  seed  and  from  the  Washington 
seed  were  as  follows: 


Nine 
Brands 
Foreign 
Seed. 

Washing- 
ton Seed. 

Supe- 
riority of 
Washing- 
ton Seed. 

Per  Cent. 

Number  of  sprouts  in  6  days  

I50-4 

198.5 

31-9 

Number  of  sprouts  in  14  days  

166.7 

203.0 

21.8 

Average  per  cent,  of  balls  developing 
sprouts  in  6  days 

7O    3 

06    =; 

?7    •? 

Average  per  cent,  of  balls  developing 
sprouts  in  14  days. 

76    2 

07    ^ 

28  o 

Total  average  number    of  sprouts 

from  2\  lb.  seed,  in  6  days  

70,973 

96,800 

36.4 

Total   average  number  of    sprouts 

from  2\  lb.  seed,  in  14  days  

78,175 

98,600 

26.1 

54  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

The  sugar  content  of  the  Washington  beets,  as  shown 
by  185  tests  made  by  the  State  Agricultural  College  at 
Pullman,  Washington,  October  10,  1903,  was  as  follows: 

Below  1 8%    8  beets,  average  sugar  in  beet  17 . 26% 
18-19       I5  18.48 

19-20      52  19-38 

20-21       53  20.30 

21-22  39  21.22 

22-23  l6  22.22 

23-24  I  23.00 

24-  I  24.00 

Total  185  20.21% 

162  Beets  average 21 .69% 

no  Beets  average 22.15% 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  purchased  5  tons 
of  the  Washington  seed  at  10  cents  per  pound,  but 
Morrison  was  unable  to  induce  the  sugar  factories  to 
purchase  any  portion  of  the  balance  at  that  price. 

Morrison  appealed  to  Secretary  of  Agriculture  Wil- 
son, declaring  he  could  not  afford  to  sell  his  seed  at 
less  than  10  cents  per  pound  and  that  he  would  let 
his  mother  beets  rot  in  the  silo,  rather  than  continue 
the  work  if  he  could  not  find  a  market  for  his  product. 

In  appealing  to  the  writer  to  interest  himself  in 
the  placing  of  the  Washington  seed,  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  Wilson  wrote,  in  part,  as  follows,  on 
February  17,  1904: 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  55 

"  The  report  of  the  scientist  which  I  have  had  on  the  sugar- 
beet  seed  farms  of  Europe  for  five  months  and  the  experiments 
which  have  been  made  in  this  country  in  producing  sugar-beet 
seed  show  the  imperative  necessity  of  producing  our  seed  in  this 
country  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment.  In  the  mean  time 
the  greatest  care  should  be  exercised  in  the  selection  of  foreign- 
grown  seed  in  order  that  a  much  larger  proportion  of  our  sowings 
will  be  of  the  best  quality  such  as  is  used  exclusively  by  Euro- 
pean beet  growers. 

"  The  seed  question  is  the  very  heart  of  the  industry,  the  founda- 
tion upon  which  depends  success  or  failure,  for  without  good  seed 
no  combination  of  propitious  conditions  can  bring  success  either 
to  the  farmer  or  the  manufacturer. 

"  We  have  been  co-operating  to  some  extent  with  Mr.  Mor- 
rison of  the  State  of  Washington,  who  has  a  seed  farm  several 
hundred  acres  in  extent.  Our  experiments  show  that  with 
equal  attention  to  the  scientific  details  we  can  produce  at  home 
a  seed  far  superior  to  the  best  European  seed.  Last  year  this 
Department  purchased  a  quantity  of  the  Washington  seed,  this 
seed  being  produced  from  mothers  selected  from  factory  beets 
which  averaged  19  per  cent,  sugar,  the  original  seeds  being  also 
home-grown.  This  seed  was  distributed  among  sugar-beet 
farmers  and  wherever  we  have  been  able  to  secure  comparative 
tests  it  has  given  excellent  results,  its  great  vitality  being  specially 
marked.  This  year  we  shall  send  out  several  tons  of  the  1903  crop. 

"  I  have  asked  Congress  for  a  special  appropriation  for  con- 
ducting scientific  sugar-beet  seed  work  and  in  case  Mr.  Morrison 
continues  his  efforts,  have  arranged  that  the  seed  scientists  of 
this  Department  take  entire  charge  of  the  scientific  work  on  his 


56  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

farm.  By  utilizing  the  science  of  two  continents  to  develop 
a  definite,  fixed  strain  of  highly  bred  American  beets,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  they  will  be  higher  in  germinating  power,  vitality  and 
tonnage  and  several  per  cent,  higher  in  sugar  content  and  purity 
than  the  best  beets  grown  from  foreign  seed.  By  centralizing 
our  efforts  for  the  present  in  one  favorable  locality  we  will  accom- 
plish results  most  quickly,  when  other  seed  growers  can  take  up 
the  work  and  perpetuate  the  strain,  raising  any  quantity  desired. 

"  *  *  *  In  sugar-beet  seed  the  market  is  confined  to  the  fifty 
or  more  factories  which  your  association  represents  and  without 
their  co-operation  in  furnishing  a  market  for  the  seed  produced, 
the  present  plans  cannot  be  carried  out. 

«  *  *  *  The  higner  germinating  power  and  extreme  vitality  of 
sprouts  and  beets  from  American-grown  seed  will  insure  an 
earlier  stand,  a  more  vigorous  growth  and  hence  a  higher  ton- 
nage. This  also  promotes  immunity  from  diseases  and  re- 
sistance to  damage  by  insects  and  drouth.  Furthermore,  25 
per  cent,  less  seed  can  be  used  and  still  secure  a  better  stand  than 
with  imported  seed.  Another  feature  is  that  where  good  and 
poor  seed  is  not  thoroughly  mixed,  it  sometimes  occurs  that 
a  considerable  part  of  or  the  whole  of  a  row  does  not  germinate, 
thus  resulting  in  severe  loss  to  the  farmer.  With  American- 
grown  seed  this  risk  would  be  entirely  eliminated. 

"  You  can  perform  no  more  valuable  service  to  the  members 
of  your  association  than  in  calling  their  attention  to  the  true 
condition  of  the  sugar-beet  seed  business  and  pointing  out  the 
remedy  for  it." 

As  the  result  of  much  writing  and  the  issuance  of 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  57 

40  pages  of  mimeographed  matter,  the  writer  finally 
succeeded  in  placing  the  30  tons  of  seed  among 
factories  located  in  Nebraska,  Minnesota,  Colorado, 
Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Ohio  and  New  York,  at  8.8  cents 
per  pound,  and  the  seed  was  planted  in  the  spring 
of  1904.  So  superior  were  the  results  obtained  that 
from  that  time  on,  Morrison  increased  his  acreage 
and  had  no  trouble  in  disposing  of  all  the  seed  he 
raised. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  established  a  station 
on  the  Morrison  farm  in  1905  and  took  entire  charge  of 
the  scientific  work,  which  was  carried  on  under  the 
direct  charge  of  Mr.  Reed,  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  J.  E.  W.  Tracey,  Assistant  Superintendent  of 
Testing  Gardens,  Department  of  Agriculture.  Again 
it  appeared  that  the  sugar  factories  of  the  United 
States  soon  would  be  supplied  with  higher  grade  seed 
than  any  other  factories  in  the  world. 

But  the  fruit  boom  struck  eastern  Washington  in 
1911,  the  boomers  offered  Morrison  more  for  his 
land  than  it  was  worth  for  growing  seed,  he  sold  his 
farm  and  the  Government  abandoned  its  station.  As 
had  been  the  case  with  the  Nebraska  experiments  of 
ten  years  before,  the  benefits  of  the  advance  which 
had  been  made  were  lost. 


58 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


That  the  Washington  seed  was  constant  and  con- 
tinued to  yield  superior  results  is  shown  by  the  Gov- 
ernment records  for  six  years,  as  embodied  in  the 
following  tables  from  "Progress  of  the  Beet  Sugar 
Industry  in  the  United  States"  in  1909,  issued  by 
the  Department  of  Agriculture: 

TABLE  I.— RELATIVE  PERFORMANCE  OF  SUGAR-BEET 
VARIETIES  FOR  THE  ENTIRE  SIX- YEAR  PERIOD 
COVERED  BY  THE  TESTS 


ARRANGED  BY  STATIONS. 

ARRANGED  BY  YEARS. 

Designation 

Sugar. 

Sugar. 

of  Variety 

Roots 

Standing 

Roots 

Standing 

Tested. 

Tons 

of 

Tons 

of 

per 

Per 

Lbs. 

Variety 

per 

Per 

Lbs. 

Variety 

acre. 

Cent. 

per 

Tested. 

acre. 

Cent. 

per 

Tested. 

acre. 

acre. 

Morrison.  .  .  . 

15.26 

16.69 

5,on 

I 

13   40 

16.53 

4,325 

I 

Original   . 

14    14 

17  41 

4,847 

2 

12    4Q 

17    14 

4,2O6 

2 

Breustedt  .  .  . 

T-  -     n 
14.20 

/     T"O 

16.64 

*rl  VT^/ 

4,664 

4 

*ry 

12.  69 

/    '        T" 

16.36 

T"J          w 

4,078 

3 

Mette  

I4-38 

16.48 

4,675 

3 

12.56 

16.31 

4,007 

6 

Schreiber.  .  .  . 

13-95 

16.95 

4,632 

6 

12.17 

17.03 

4,041 

4 

Braune  

14.40 

16-34 

4,635 

5 

12.74 

16.15 

4,031 

5 

Heine  

13-87 

16.89 

4,608 

7 

11.98 

16.70 

3,894 

9 

Utah  

13.88 

16.78 

4,597 

8 

12.09 

16.  70 

3,962 

7 

Hcerning.  .  .  . 

14-37 

16.25 

4,547 

9 

12.51 

16.15 

3,9H 

8 

Jaensch  

13-79 

16-55 

4,506 

10 

H-93 

16.44 

3,839 

II 

Dippe  

13-43 

16.85 

4,452 

1  1 

11.86 

16.67 

3,864 

10 

Kuhn  

12.88 

17.12 

4,333 

12 

ii  54 

16.87 

3,821 

12 

ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


59 


TABLE  XL— RELATIVE  STANDING,  BY  STATIONS  AND 
BY  YEARS,  OF  SUGAR-BEET  VARIETIES  TESTED 
FOR  ALL  YEARS 


ARRANGED  BY  STATIONS. 

Colorado,  Ft. 
Collins 
3  Years. 

Michigan,  East 
Lansing 
5  Years. 

Michigan, 
Holland 
6  Years. 

New  York, 
Geneva 
6  Years. 

d 

_O 

5-!3 

c  3 

a£ 

gro 
O 

a 

n! 
bo    • 

S| 

J 

5-* 
p 

Washington, 
Fairfield 
6  Years. 

All  Stations. 

Morrison 

I 

5 
9 

2 

8 
6 
7 
4 
3 

10 

ii 

12 

4 

2 

5 
ii 

i 
6 
3 
9 

12 
10 

8 

7 

3 

5 

7 

10 

4 
9 
ii 

12 

2 

8 
6 

I 

3 

2 

9 
4 

5 

10 

7 

12 

8 
6 
ii 

I 
2 

9 

5* 

10 

4 
8 

5* 
ii 

3 

7 

12 

2 
I 

3 

7 

12 

5 
4 
6 

9 

10 

ii 

8 

I 
2 

8 
5 
3 

12 
11 

4 
6 

7 
9 
10 

I 
2 

4 
3 
6 

5 
7 
8 

9 

10 

ii 

12 

Origind  

Breustedt  
Mette  

Schreiber.    ,    .    . 

Braune  

Heine         

Utah 

Hoerning.      .  .  . 

Jaensch  

Diooe. 

Kuhn.  . 

Designation  of 
Variety  Tested. 

ARRANGED  BY  YEARS. 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

All  Yrs. 

Morrison  

I 

7 

i 

I 

2 

6 

I 

Original 

T. 

i 

2 

4. 

I 

-j 

2 

Breustedt  

Q 

2 

5 

2 

6 

8 

'I 

Mette  

IO 

12 

4 

6 

4 

e 

6 

Schreiber  

2 

6 

6 

12 

3 

2 

4 

Braune  

4 

4 

9 

3 

7 

7 

«; 

Heine  

6 

s: 

7 

II 

0 

0 

Q 

Utah 

7 

IO 

K 

8 

4. 

7 

Hoernirg  

II 

10 

3 

7 

10 

12 

8 

Jaensch  

12 

13 

8 

8 

ii 

I 

II 

Dippe  

5 

i 

ii 

10 

12 

IO 

10 

Kuhn  

8 

ii 

12 

9 

5 

11 

12 

*  The   Mette  and  the   Utah   varieties  have  the   same  relative  standing  at 
Union,  Oregon. 


60  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


SEED   GROWING   IN  CALIFORNIA 

Some  years  ago  J.  B.  Agnew  &  Company,  of  Agnew, 
California,  near  San  Francisco,  produced  commercial 
seed  for  several  seasons,  but  the  enterprise  did  not 
meet  with  success  and  was  abandoned.  C.  C.  Morse 
&  Company  also  gave  the  work  a  thorough  test,  but 
were  unable  to  produce  seed  successfully.  At  Oxnard, 
in  southern  California,  the  American  Beet  Sugar 
Company  conducted  extensive  experiments  in  seed 
growing  for  a  number  of  years,  but  finally  gave  up 
the  effort. 

The  main  trouble  in  California  is  that  such  a  large 
percentage  of  the  mother  beet  seed  is  liable  to  go  to 
seed  the  first  year.  While  some  years  but  5  per  cent, 
of  the  seed  would  develop  seed  stalks  the  first  season, 
other  years,  under  identical  cultural  conditions,  80 
per  cent,  would  develop  seed  stalks  the  first  year. 
This  inconsistency  is  attributed  to  the  average  uni- 
form temperature,  which  does  not  insure  a  complete 
check  of  the  selected  mother  beets  during  the  winter. 

To  overcome  this  difficulty,  specially  constructed 
siloes  for  the  mothers  were  prepared  and  the  mothers 
were  planted  at  various  dates,  but  the  effort  did.  not 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  61 

succeed.  Nevertheless,  experiments  still  are  being 
conducted  in  that  state,  both  by  sugar  companies  and 
by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 


SEED   GROWING  IN  UTAH  AND   IDAHO 

In  1899  the  Utah  Sugar  Company  began  experi- 
menting with  sugar-beet  seed  culture  at  Lehi,  and  since 
has  planted  from  5  to  20  acres  to  mother  beets  yearly. 
Since  1907  this  company  also  has  grown  from  10 
to  30  acres  yearly  at  Sugar  City,  Idaho.  Originally, 
the  work  was  conducted  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Granger,  sub- 
sequently under  Mr.  Mark  Austin,  Agricultural  Super- 
intendent of  the  company.  The  quality  of  the  seed 
was  excellent;  the  main  difficulty  experienced  was  in 
keeping  the  mother  beets  through  the  winter.  Large 
sums  of  money  were  expended  in  trying  to  make  the 
enterprise  a  success,  but  it  was  not  until  1912,  when 
Mr.  W.  K.  Winterhalter,  who  represented  the  Russian 
sugar-beet  seed  firm  of  Buszczynski  &  Lazynski, 
became  associated  with  the  enterprise,  that  the  work 
assumed  commercial  proportions,  since  which  time  the 
production  has  been  greatly  increased,  now  amounting 
to  10,000  to  15,000  bags  annually. 


62  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

In  both  sugar  content  and  germination,  the  results 
secured  from  this  seed  are  equal  to  those  obtained 
from  the  best  imported  seed. 

SUGAR  BEET  SEED  EXPERIMENTS  IN  SOUTH 
DAKOTA 

The  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  of  South 
Dakota,  in  which  state  no  beet-sugar  factory  has  as  yet 
been  erected,  has  been  experimenting  with  sugar  beet 
culture  since  1888  and  with  the  development  of  Amer- 
ican strains  of  sugar  beet  seed,  since  1891.  In  a  bulle- 
tin,* which  reviews  the  work  of  the  station  since  1888, 
it  is  stated  that  they  found  no  pure  strains  of  commer- 
cial seed  that  would  give  uniform  tonnage  or  percentages 
of  sugar,  but  that  on  the  contrary,  beets  grown  from  the 
best  varieties  of  seed  gave  beets  which  "differed  from 
one  another  by  10  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet."  There 
was  also  a  great  difference  in  the  purity  of  the  beet  and 
in  the  tonnage  yield  per  acre. 

By  making  selections  the  average  sugar  content  of 

*  Sugar  Beet  Culture  in  South  Dakota.  Results  to  Date, 
Bulletin  No.  142,  by  James  H.  Shepard,  Chemist,  Department  of 
Chemistry,  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  South  Dakota 
State  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts,  Brookings,  S.  D., 
January,  1913. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  63 

the  beet  was  raised  3  per  cent  in  the  first  generation 
produced  from  Dakota  seed,  and  in  later  selections, 
while  all  beets  were  rejected  which  did  not  analyze 
higher  in  sugar  than  did  the  highest- at  the  beginning 
of  the  experiments,  and  higher  than  the  average  of  all 
the  commercial  beets  grown  in  the  United  States,  the 
rejections  amounted  to  but  3.4  per  cent  of  the  beets 
tested.  No  rows  of  beets  in  which  every  beet  was  tested 
averaged  less  than  20  per  cent  sugar,  the  highest  aver- 
age for  any  row  was  21.5  per  cent  and  the  highest 
individual  beet  tested,  contained  25.4  per  cent  sugar. 

It  is  obvious  that  if  by  selection,  the  poorer  quality 
of  seed  which  we  are  using  be  eliminated,  and  from  the 
superior  types  of  foreign  elite  seed,  strains  of  high  ton- 
nage, high  sugar  content  and  high  purity  beets  be  bred, 
the  reduction  in  the  farmers  cost  of  producing  beets 
and  the  factory  cost  of  producing  sugar  would  be  mate- 
rially reduced.  In  fact,  even  with  our  high  wage  rates, 
it  might  so  revolutionize  costs  as  to  make  this  the  cheap- 
est beet-sugar  producing  country  in  the  world. 

The  following  from  South  Dakota,  Bulletin  No.  142, 
indicates  the  results  which  may  be  attained  by  beginning 
at  the  foundation  and  breeding  pure  American  strains  of 
sugar  beet  seed: 


64  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

"This  year  (1891)  also  saw  the  beginning  of  raising  sugar  beet 
seed  from  analyzed  mother  beets.  A  small  quantity  of  seed  from 
several  varieties  was  grown.  When  planted  the  next  year  the 
beets  grown  gave  a  promising  increase  over  the  mothers  planted 
for  seed.  In  some  instances  3  per  cent  more  sugar  was  found. 
Thus  by  selection  a  15  per  cent  beet  was  raised  to  18  per  cent. 
This  is  mentioned  here,  since  this  small  beginning  has  borne  fruit 
in  the  splendid  achievements  of  the  present  time.  .  .  . 

"The  object  of  the  new  work  was  to  breed  up  strains  of  sugar 
beets  in  which  the  individuals  should  give  uniformly  high  sugar 
percentages,  while  the  beets  should  be  large  enough  to  make  a 
profitable  tonnage  for  the  farmer. 

"The  first  year  of  this  work  in  co-operation  with  the  Bureau  of 
Plant  Industry  (U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture),  Dr.  Townsend 
secured  26  different  varieties  of  sugar  beet  and  stock  beet  seeds. 
The  sugar  beet  seed  was  from  the  best  American  and  foreign 
growers  who  were  furnishing  our  factories  with  commercial  seed. 

"Each  variety  was  planted  and  when  ripe  the  variety  was  har- 
vested and  the  beets,  after  a  thorough  sorting  for  shape,  type  and 
size,  were  siloed  in  a  cool  cellar.  Later  they  were  all  brought 
to  the  laboratory  and  each  beet  was  analyzed  separately.  Any 
sugar  beet  that  failed  to  have  15  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet  this 
year  was  rejected.  This  severe  culling  process  left  good  beets 
of  proper  form  and  size  with  at  least  a  good  commercial  per  cent 
of  sugar.  Some  varieties  were  thrown  out  entirely.  And  of  the 
beets  saved  in  the  field  in  some  varieties  the  number  of  rejected 
beets  were  small,  in  others  it  amounted  to  as  much  as  20  per  cent. 

"We  were  unable  at  this  time  to  cull  closer  than  this.  But 
some  varieties  gave  one  or  two  beets  out  of  the  whole  number 
analyzed  that  went  up  to  20  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet,  and  one 
gave  24.8  per  cent  sugar.  These  few  best  ones  were  planted  sep- 
arately and  sacked  so  they  self-fertilized,  thus  giving  us  the  begin- 
nings of  new  strains. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  65 

"But  one  thing  became  immediately  apparent,  and  that  was 
that  there  were  no  pure  strains  of  sugar  beet  seed  in  the  country 
that  would  give  uniform  percentages  among  the  individuals  of 
any  variety.  In  even  the  best  varieties  individuals  were  found 
that  differed  from  one  another  by  10  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet. 
The  enormous  waste  that  would  ensue  from  using  such  seed  may 
be  readily  imagined.  The  poor  beets  cost  just  as  much  to  grow 
as  the  good  ones  and  they  reduced  the  profits  of  both  farmer  and 
manufacturer.  .  .  . 

"In  1908,  21  more  varieties  of  seed  were  secured  and  treated 
as  the  first  26.  .  .  .  The  number  rejected  on  a  15  per  cent  basis 
ranged  all  the  way  from  50  per  cent  to  100  per  cent.  In  1909  we 
were  busy  propagating  and  testing  out  not  only  the  main  lots  of 
beets  and  seed  grown  during  the  past  two  years,  but  owing  to  an 
early  freeze  in  October  we  were  able  to  give  the  first  26  varieties 
grown  as  severe  a  culling  as  we  had  given  the  seeds  planted  the 
previous  year.  .  .  .  The  culling  was  most  severe,  the  rejects  often 
constituted  over  half  the  beets  analyzed.  But  this  has  proven  a 
blessing  in  disguise.  But  we  commenced  to  see  for  the  first  time 
that  we  had  made  substantial  gains  in  reducing  the  variation 
between  individuals  of  the  same  strain.  The  variation  of  10  per 
cent  had  been  reduced  in  most  cases  to  5  per  cent  or  6  per  cent. 
In  only  a  very  few  cases  did  it  rise  to  8  per  cent,  while  in  some 
cases  it  had  dropped  to  3  per  cent  or  4  per  cent.  The  mother 
beets  averaged  about  15  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet. 

"In  1910  we  continued  the  work,  analyzing,  selecting,  and  test- 
ing out  the  new  strains  of  mothers  and  seed  we  had  grown.  .  .  . 
Upwards  of  4000  beets  were  analyzed  and  classified.  Up  to  this 
time  that  work  has  borne  no  fruit.  But  when  we  came  to  select 
our  mother  beets  after  analysis  we  made  the  satisfactory  dis- 
covery that  the  individual  variation  between  beets  of  the  same 
variety  was  rapidly  disappearing.  On  the  basis  of  15  per  cent  the 
rejects  had  dwindled  down  to  an  average  of  only  3.4  per  cent  for 


66  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

all  varieties.  The  lowest  per  cent  rejected  on  account  of  low 
sugar  content  was  0.9  per  cent,  and  the  highest  was  7.0  per  cent. 
When  we  consider  that  when  these  same  strains  at  their  last 
selection  required  the  rejection  of  around  50  per  cent  and  over, 
it  needs  no  erudition  to  discover  the  remarkable  progress  made. 
Also  we  made  the  largest  number  of  individual  analyses  this 
year  that  has  been  made  in  this  work.  This  year  the  mother 
beets  averaged  over  17  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet.  This  fact 
marked  another  distinct  advance  in  our  quest  for  a  high  and  uni- 
form percentage  of  sugar. 

"For  1911,  owing  to  the  fact  that  we  now  had  some  very  good 
strains  well  on  their  way  toward  our  ideals,  other  phases  of  the 
work  are  undertaken.  ...  In  analyzing  beets  for  mothers  we 
were  able  to  reject  all  under  18  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet  this  year. 
Here  is  a  mighty  advance.  With  this  high  standard  the  reject 
per  cent  was  low,  running  around  10  per  cent  or  under.  In  no 
variety  did  the  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet  as  determined  by  a 
composite  analysis  in  which  every  beet  in  the  row  was  analyzed 
fall  below  20  per  cent.  The  highest  average  was  21.5  per  cent; 
even  the  rejects  averaged  well  over  15  per  cent. 

"We  have  been  looking  all  these  years  for  a  sugar  beet 
that  will  give  25  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet.  And  this  year 
we  not  only  found  several  that  were  that  high  but  we  surely 
caught  a  big  one,  25.4  per  cent.  Perhaps  they  grow  richer.  We 
do  not  know. 

"As  for  tonnage,  the  different  varieties  gave  from  20  to  24 
tons  per  acre.  Owing  to  the  great  interest  at  this  time  there  is 
appended  a  table  giving  a  summary  of  the  results  secured  along 
commercial  lines  during  1911  and  1912.  The  table  is  self-explan- 
atory. The  pounds  of  sugar  per  acre  were  calculated  by  weighing 
the  topped  beets.  Then  this  weight  was  multiplied  by  the  per 
cent  sugar  in  the  beet.  In  factory  practice  around  4  per  cent  of 
the  sugar  in  the  beet  is  not  recovered  as  sugar.  Some  of  it  goes 


ITS  HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT 


67 


to  molasses.     The  molasses  is  worked  up  into  alcohol  and  other 
valuable  products. 

TABLE   i 
VARIETY  TESTS  or  SUGAR  BEETS  FOR  1911 


*d 

V3   <L> 

i! 

"1 

& 

tr5 

i 

i 

fc 

6< 

o>^r 

CQ  g 
d< 

W  *.S 

II 
P 

pi 

•c 

JIJ 

jll 

"^  M  £J 

35 

5 

248 

267 

19.6 

17.1 

88 

16.3 

31,015 

4,550 

40 

7 

368 

354 

19.6 

17.0 

87 

16.2 

26,515 

3,865 

42 

6 

288 

297 

19.8 

17.6 

89 

16.7 

32,016 

4,812 

43 

6 

326 

307 

20.4 

17.9 

89 

17.0 

32,894 

5,031 

44 

6 

317 

303 

20.3 

17.9 

88 

17.0 

32,665 

4,797 

VARIETY  TESTS  FOR  1912 


35 

Width 
of 
Row. 

: 
142 

H5 

24.0 

21  .0 

88 

20.  o 

46,379 

8,532 

18 

42 

18 

158 

112 

24.4 

22.0 

90 

20.9 

45,173 

8,497 

43 

18 

146 

118 

24-5 

22.0 

88 

20.9 

47,593 

8,962 

44 

18 

138 

101 

25-4 

22.6 

89 

21.5 

40,737 

7,782 

i8S 

18 

120 

106 

25-6 

23.2 

Qi 

22.0 

42,753 

8,653 

2lS 

18 

132 

106 

24.6 

22.0 

89 

20.9 

42,753 

8,025 

SDi 

18 

143 

in 

24.2 

21.4 

88 

20.3 

44,766 

8,268 

"Our  rejects  from  the  mother  beet  analyses  will  give  a  higher 
per  cent  than  the  average  of  all  the  commercial  beets  grown  in 


68  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

this  country.  California  has  the  highest  per  cent  sugar  in  the  beet 
of  any  state  where  they  are  grown  commercially,  18.54  per  cent 
while  her  tonnage  is  10.72." 


SINGLE-GERM  BEET  BALLS 

In  forming  beet  seed  nature  seems  to  have  been 
perverse,  in  that  while  she  compels  us  to  plant  several 
seeds  in  a  place  and  thus  starts  the  beetlets  in  cluster, 
they  cannot  be  grown  to  advantage  in  clusters.  We 
plant  four  kernels  of  corn  in  a  hill,  but  the  beet  re- 
quires that  its  nearest  neighbor  shall  be  8  inches 
removed.  The  several  peas  which  grow  in  a  pod 
easily  are  separated  and  can  be  planted  singly,  but  the 
several  beet-seed  germs  which  grow  in  a  beet-ball 
cannot  be  separated. 

The  ball  in  which  beet  seed  is  incased  is  a  hard, 
woody,  fibrous  substance  and  was  placed  there  by 
nature  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  moisture,  etc.,  to 
enter  by  osmosis  in  proper  proportions  so  as  to  reg- 
ulate the  germination  of  the  plant. 

These  balls  contain  from  i  to  7  distinct  seeds  or 
germs,  with  an  average  germination  of  3^  plants 
per  ball.  The  consequence  is  that  in  order  to  leave 
but  one  plant  every  eight  inches  in  the  row,  when 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


69 


DEVELOPING  SINGLE-GERM  BEET  SEED 

Plant  that  has  been  covered  with  muslin  bags  upon  a  frame  of  wire 
netting.  Many  of  the  racemes  have  grown  through  the  meshes  of  the 
netting. 


70  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

the  plants  appear  above  the  ground  and  show  their 
third  leaf,  all  superfluous  plants  must  be  pulled  up, 
care  being  exercised  that  the  remaining  plants  be 
injured  as  little  as  possible.  At  best,  the  shock  is 
so  severe  that  the  remaining  plants  wither  and  lie 
flat  on  the  ground  for  several  hours  after  being  thinned. 
In  addition  to  the  injury  to  the  plants,  thinning  is  a 
slow,  expensive,  back-aching  task  which  must  be  done 
by  hand. 

Several  years  ago  it  was  proposed  to  plant  the 
beet-balls  in  paper  tubes  in  a  seed-bed,  thin  them  while 
the  tubes  still  were  on  trays,  convey  the  trays  to  the 
field  and  plant  the  tubes,  much  as  tobacco  plants 
are  planted.  Because  of  the  attendant  expense,  this 
method  never  passed  the  experimental  stage. 

Then  a  machine  was  invented  which  twisted  up 
beet-balls,  one  in  a  place,  at  given  distances  within 
a  continuous  narrow  roll  of  paper,  which  could  be 
unwound  from  a  field  implement  which  made  a  trench, 
laid  the  paper  roll  and  covered  it  with  earth  as  the 
machine  was  drawn  across  the  field.  But  the  inventor 
overlooked  the  fact  that  each  beet-ball  contained 
several  germs,  hence  his  proposed  method  did  not 
obviate  the  necessity  of  thinning  on  hands  and  knees. 

About  the  same  time,  a  German  seed  grower  tried 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


71 


4  j. 


TYPE  OF  SEED  BEET  READY  TO  HARVEST 


72  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

to  obviate  the  necessity  of  thinning,  by  passing  the 
seed-balls  through  a  grater  and  cracking  them  into 
several  parts.  Some  of  this  cracked  seed  was  placed 
on  the  American  market,  but  did  not  give  satisfactory 
results.  The  drawbacks  to  this  method  were  both 
numerous  and  serious.  Some  of  the  seed  germs  were 
destroyed  in  the  cracking  machine.  Others  were  ex- 
posed and  the  function  of  the  beet-ball  to  regulate 
the  germination  was  destroyed.  The  oxalates  in  the 
beet-ball  did  not  perform  their  function  of  protecting 
the  young  plant  from  its  micro-enemies.  And  finally, 
unless  a  large  portion  of  the  germs  were  ruined,  it  was 
impossible  so  to  crack  the  balls  but  that  many  of  the 
pieces  contained  more  than  one  germ  and  the  field 
had  to  be  thinned  as  usual. 

With  these  experiments  in  mind,  the  writer  cracked 
open  and  examined  thousands  of  beet-seed  balls  and 
finally  concluded  that  the  only  manner  in  which 
the  desired  result  might  be  attained  would  be  to  breed 
a  single-germ  beet-ball.  If  the  botanists  could  change 
the  whole  nature  of  the  beet's  seeding  habit  and  induce 
it  to  become  a  biennial  instead  of  an  annual,  why 
could  they  not  change  its  habit  of  growing  more  than 
one  seed  in  a  ball. 

The  value  of  such  a  seed  scarcely  could  be  measured 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


73 


X 


74  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

in  dollars.  Not  only  was  the  thinning  expensive,  but 
careful  German  experiments  had  shown  that  unless 
beets  were  thinned  at  exactly  the  right  time,  the  loss 
in  tonnage,  due  to  the  injury  to  the  remaining  beetlet 
by  reason  of  pulling  up  the  superfluous  plants,  was 
very  great.  One  German  experiment  conducted  on 
four  plots  of  ground  where  all  conditions  of  seed,  soil 
and  care,  except  the  time  of  thinning,  were  the  same, 
had  given  the  following  results : 

Plot  No.  i,  thinned  at  the  right  time,  yielded  15    tons  of  beets. 

2,  "        one  week  later,  13!    "     "     " 

3,  "        still  one  week  later  10      "     "     " 

4,  ' '        still  another  week  later        7       "     "     " 

Now  if  the  very  womb  of  the  seed  germ  could  be  so 
changed  as  to  contain  but  one  germ  instead  of  several, 
a  single  seed  could  be  planted  in  a  place,  the  cost  of 
the  hand  work  of  thinning  could  be  saved  and  the 
tonnage  would  be  increased  from  25  to  40  per  cent., 
for  beets  rarely,  if  ever,  are  thinned  at  just  the  right 
moment.  Even  when  they  are,  the  shock  caused 
by  removing  the  intertwined  roots  is  severe.  With 
but  one  beetlet  growing  in  a  place,  they  would  be 
entirely  free  from  shock. 

To  insure   a   good   stand,   the   beet-balls   could   be 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


75 


BEET-SEED  STEM 
Mounted  on  board  21X42  inches. 


76  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

dropped  in  the  rows,  one  inch  or  two  inches  apart  and 
the  superfluous  plants  could  be  removed  with  a  hoe 
at  the  farmers'  leisure,  without  injury  to  the  remaining 
plants.  To  insure  sufficient  power  to  break  through 
a  crusted  surface  in  sections  where  showers  were 
likely  and  the  soil  was  caked,  oats  could  be  drilled  in 
with  the  beet  seed,  or  the  crust  could  be  broken  with 
the  proper  agricultural  implements. 

Inasmuch  as  the  average  yield  in  the  United  States 
is  but  10  tons  per  acre,  while  a  perfect  stand  of  2-pound 
beets  planted  in  rows  18  inches  apart  and  thinned  to 
8  inches,  would  yield  43  tons  per  acre,  the  chance  for 
materially  increasing  the  tonnage  is  very  great. 

The  suggestion  met  with  no  encouragement  from 
sugar  men;  they  did  not  believe  it  possible  to  breed 
a  single-germ  beet-ball.  But  the  moment  the  writer 
broached  the  subject  to  Secretary  of  Agriculture  Wilson, 
he  became  enthusiastic  over  it,  declaring  that  it  not 
only  was  possible,  but  probable,  and  within  twenty- 
four  hours,  a  bevy  of  Department  clerks  was  at  work 
sorting  out  single-germ  beet-balls  from  commercial 
seed. 

The  only  mark  on  beet-balls  which  indicates  the 
presence  of  seed  is  an  almost  imperceptible  flattening 
directly  over  each  seed  pocket.  The  entire  surface 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


77 


DEVELOPING  SINGLE-GERM  BEET  SEED 
Two  extremely  diverse  terminals  of  seed  stems, 


78  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

of  each  little  beet-ball  had  to  be  examined  minutely. 
From  between  400,000  and  500,000  beet-balls 
4000  singles  were  secured,  the  exact  proportion 
of  singles  being  0.98  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  balls 
examined. 

The  writer  had  reasoned  that  because  of  the  fact 
that  the  ball  which  enclosed  a  single  was  more  than 
one-half  the  size  of  that  enclosing  a  double,  and  that 
of  a  double  was  more  than  two-thirds  the  size  of  a 
three-germ  ball,  the  less  the  number  of  seeds  a  ball 
contained,  the  larger  would  be  their  breakfast.  His 
boyhood  recollection  was  that  the  sow  that  raised  the 
smallest  litter,  raised  the  biggest  pigs,  but  he  was 
told  that  his  reasoning  could  not  be  applied  to  sugar- 
beet  seed  and  that  vitality  would  have  to  be  bred  into 
the  plants  after  the  single  germ  characteristic  should 
have  become  fixed. 

This  was  in  the  early  spring  of  1903,  and  in  due 
course  the  singles  were  planted  on  the  Arlington 
Experimental  Farm  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 
near  Washington.  The  germination  was  favorable, 
and  contrary  to  the  predictions  of  the  botanists,  the 
vitality  cf  the  plants  was  abnormally  high,  the  highest 
of  any  sugar-beet  seed  ever  grown  by  the  Department. 
At  the  close  of  the  season  about  1000  beets  grown  from 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


79 


the    single-germ    seed    were    selected    and    siloed    for 
the  next  season's  planting. 

In  the  spring  of   1904  the  single-germ    " mothers" 
were  shipped  by  express  and  by  post,  to  Lehi,  Utah. 


DEVELOPING  SINGLE-CLRM  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

Flower  stalks  possessing  only  single  flowers,  covered  with  paper  bags  to 
prevent  cross  pollination 

Drs.  C.  O.  Townsend  and  E.  C.  Rittue,  Pathologist 
and  Assistant  Pathologist,  Department  of  Agriculture, 
had  been  placed  in  direct  charge  of  the  work  and  upon 
arrival  of  the  mothers  they  were  planted  3X3  feet. 


80 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


Sugar  Beet  Root  System 


6  IN. 


12m. 


18m. 


24m. 


30.K.I- 


K        \ 


ROOT  SYSTEM  OF  COMMERCIAL  SUGAR  BEETS 

It  is  estimated  that  one  ton  of  fibrous  roots  per  acre  remains  in  the 
ground  after  the  main  root  has  been  harvested. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  81 

Only  two  of  the  plants  set  out  failed  to  live  and  less 
than  i  per  cent,  failed  to  produce  seed  stalks. 

Fifty  of  the  plants  which  possessed  the  highest 
number  of  single  flowers  were  selected  for  pollination 
purposes.  In.  the  work  of  pollination,  single  flowers 
were  covered  with  paper  bags  in  order  to  protect  them 
from  the  pollen  of  other  beet-flowers,  a  ndthe  branches 
which  bore  multiple  flowers  were  removed.  While  open- 
ing the  flowers  with  a  needle  or  scalpel  in  order  to  cross- 
fertilize  them,  a  tent  was  erected  to  surround  both 
plant  and  operator  and  protect  the  flowers  at  such  times 
against  stray  pollen  that  might  be  floating  in  the  air. 

After  the  flowers  were  treated  and  covered  with 
paper  bags,  the  entire  plant  was  covered  with  a  cloth 
bag  in  order  that  the  paper  bags  might  not  be  blown 
off.  Each  plant  was  carefully  examined  from  time 
to  time  to  remove  the  superfluous  growth  that  was 
forced  from  the  nodes  as  a  result  of  the  excessive  trim- 
ming due  to  removing  the  branches  which  bore  multiple 
flowers.  As  soon  as  the  seed  had  set,  the  paper  bags 
were  removed,  but  the  cloth  bags  remained  over  the 
plants  until  the  seed  ripened. 

The  seed  ripened  in  August  and  that  from  each  of 
the  pollinated  plants,  and  the  other  plants  which 
showed  the  .greatest  number  of  singles,  was  gathered 


82 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  83 

separately.  Owing  to  the  method  of  pollination,  it 
was  impossible  to  determine  what  proportion  of  the 
seed-balls  of  the  pollinated  plants  were  single.  Of 
the  other  plants,  the  highest,  or  number  51,  yielded  25 
per  cent,  single-germ  balls  and  the  next  10  averaged 
17  per  cent,  singles. 

In  1905  the  best  plant  yielded  slightly  over  50  per 
cent,  singles,  two  plants  yielded  between  49  and  50 
per  cent.,  several  exceeded  40  per  cent,  and  many  ex- 
ceeded 30  per  cent. 

The  third  generation  yielded  about  the  same  as  the 
second.  In  the  fourth  generation  some  of  the  plants 
yielded  60  to  70  per  cent,  singles,  two  produced  as  high 
as  80  per  cent,  and  one  produced  85  per  cent,  singles. 
The  very  high  plants  proved  to  be  weaklings  and 
eventually  died  without  producing  further  results. 

The  work  was  interrupted  during  1913  and  1914,  but 
fortunately,  samples  of  nearly  all  the  seed  which  had 
shown  promising  results  in  1912  have  been  saved. 
The  best  plants  with  which  the  Department  now  is 
working  yielded  60  to  70  per  cent,  singles. 

In  addition  to  the  production  of  single-germ  plants, 
the  Department  is  conducting  with  this  experiment 
a  number  of  investigations  in  regard  to  weight  and 
quality  of  seed,  as  well  as  in  regard  to  the  quality 


84  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

of  roots  produced  from  singles  as  compared  with  those 
produced  from  multiple  germ  seeds. 

No  doubt  is  expressed  but  that  the  single  germ 
characteristic  will  become  fixed,  but  as  to  how  soon 
and  as  to  how  much  of  a  tendency  there  will  be  to 
revert,  only  can  be  determined  by  further  investi- 
gations and  the  lapse  of  time. 

NOTE.  For  further  details  of  this  work,  see  "Single-Germ 
Beet-Balls  and  Other  Suggestions  for  Improving  Sugar-Beet 
Culture,"  by  Truman  G.  Palmer,  in  "Progress  of  the  Beet-Sugar 
Industry"  in  1902,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture;  "The 
Development  of  Single-germ  Beet  Seed,"  by  C.  O.  Townsend 
and  E.  C.  Rittue,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Bulletin 
No.  73,  1905;  "Progress  of  the  Beet-Sugar  Industry"  in  1908, 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 

SUGAR-BEET  SEED   SITUATION  IN   1914,   1915 
AND   1916 

The  present  annual  seed  requirements  of  American 
beet-sugar  companies  are  about  150,000  bags  of  no 
pounds  each,  practically  all  of  which  is  imported  from 
Europe,  mostly  from  Germany.  During  the  last  5  pre- 
war years  these  imports  amounted  to  nearly  60,000,000 
pounds,  for  which  there  was  paid  about  $4,500,000. 
The  bulk  of  this  seed  was  supplied  by  one  Austrian 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  85 

and  five  German  growers,  with  whom  advance  con- 
tracts were  placed  for  several  years  for  a  given  quantity 
of  seed  per  year,  to  be  delivered  as  required  and  paid 
for  in  the  usual  course  of  business.  With  the  out- 
break of  war  in  Europe,  all  was  changed  and  ever 
since  August,  1914,  the  question  cf  securing  an  ade- 
quate supply  of  sugar-beet  seed  has  been  the  uppermost 
thought  in  the  minds  of  domestic  beet-sugar  producers. 
It  was  a  particularly  unfortunate  time  to  be  cut  off 
from  the  usual  seed  supply,  as  seed  stocks  in  this  country 
never  before  had  been  so  low.  The  average  New  York 
wholesale  price  of  granulated  sugar  for  the  year  1913 
had  dropped  to  4.278  cents  per  pound,  the  lowest  in 
history,  and  in  that  year  Congress  had  provided  that 
the  import  duty  on  foreign  sugar  should  be  abolished 
May  i,  1916,  which  would  still  further  lower  the  price 
of  the  product.  Discouraged  at  the  gloomy  outlook, 
company  managements  had  allowed  their  seed  supply 
to  decline  and  when  war  was  declared  and  the  price 
of  sugar  immediately  began  to  recover,  some  beet 
sugar  companies  did  not  have  a  bag  of  seed  on  hand 
for  their  1915  planting,  others  had  only  a  small  supply, 
only  a  few  were  well  provided.  The  quantity  of  home- 
grown seed  was  negligible  and  without  seed  the  fac- 
tories would  remain  idle. 


86  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

It  at  once  became  impossible  for  American  beet-sugar 
companies  to  secure  shipments  of  seed  without  first 
depositing  the  money  in  Rotterdam  against  bills  of 
lading.  To  secure  the  seed,  it  became  necessary  for 
the  American  beet-sugar  producers  to  send  two  of 
their  number  to  Rotterdam,  prepared  to  disburse 
some  $800,000  to  the  various  growers,  as  the  seed 
arrived,  and  to  arrange  for  its  shipment  to  the  United 
States.  Shipping  facilities  and  other  complications 
were  such  that  several  months'  effort  of  the  committee 
was  required  in  order  to  secure  sufficient  seed  for  the 

1915  planting. 

In  1915  the  quantity  of   German  seed  desired  for 

1916  planting  in  the  United  States  amounted  in  value 
to    3,500.000   marks,    and    the    German    Government 
having  placed  an  embargo  on  the  export  of  sugar-beet 
seed,  notified  its  growers  that  the  only  condition  upon 
which  the  seed  could  be  exported  was  that  the  United 
States  first  should  land  foodstuffs  or  cotton  at  a  Ger- 
man  port,  to  the  value  of  the  seed  to  be  exported. 

As  Great  Britain  had  blockaded  German  ports  and 
would  not  recede  from  her  position,  the  seed  situa- 
tion with  American  beet-sugar  factories  became  still 
more  acute  and  from  that  time  until  late  in  1917,  the 
executive  officer  of  the  industry's  national  association, 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  87 

together  with  his  staff  of  office  assistants,  devoted  their 
time  incessantly  to  the  work  of  securing  a  sufficient 
supply  of  seed  to  operate  the  American  factories. 

With  every  nation  to  be  dealt  with  plunged  into  war, 
diplomatic  relations  strained,  commercial  operations  up- 
set, transportation  facilities  in  a  chaotic  condition  and 
devoted  almost  exclusively  to  conveying  troops  and 
munitions  of  war,  the  maze  of  red  tape  which  was  en- 
countered both  in  Washington  and  in  foreign  capitals 
in  securing  export  permits,  the  proper  preparation  and 
filing  of  indemnity  bonds  guaranteeing  that  the  seed 
would  not  be  reexported,  the  securing  of  British  safe 
sea  permits  and  latterly  the  securing  of  ocean  bottoms 
in  which  to  ship  the  seed  from  Russia  was  all  but 
endless. 

A  meager  15,000  bags  was  secured  from  Germany 
"as  a  special  consideration  to  the  United  States." 
Germany  designated  the  companies  and  the  quantity 
of  seed  which  each  should  receive.  Although  this 
seed  was  furnished  under  the  then  existing  contracts 
at  8  cents  per  pound,  in  such  desperate  need  of  seed 
were  some  American  companies  which  did  not  par- 
ticipate in  the  distribution,  that  they  paid  their  more 
fortunate  competitors  as  high  as  $65  a  bag  for  their 
surplus  seed.  It  appearing  that  no  more  seed  could 


88  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

be  secured  from  either  Germany  or  Austria,  a 
trusted  agent  was  dispatched  to  Russia.  When 
the  Russian  seed  growers  learned  of  the  situation, 
the  price  of  Russian  seed  immediately  rose  to 
three  times  its  usual  value  and  most  of  the 
growers  demanded  full  payment  for  the  seed  before 
leaving  their  shipping  stations,  which  are  located  in 
the  vicinity  of  Kieff.  Although  these  stations  are 
6000  miles  from  the  port  of  Vladivostok,  with 
which  they  were  connected  by  a  single-track  rail- 
way which  already  was  congested  with  war  munition 
freight  and  often  was  closed  for  weeks  to  commercial 
freights,  American  sugar  factories  assumed  the  risk 
and  forwarded  a  million  and  a  half  dollars  to  Russia 
without  any  positive  assurance  that  the  seed  could 
be  brought  out.  After  months  of  negotiations  and 
vexatious  delays,  the  seed  began  to  move  and  all  of 
it  reached  this  country  within  a  year  from  the  time 
it  was  purchased. 

The  desperate  quest  for  seed  brought  to  mind  more 
vividly  than  ever  before  the  absolute  dependence  of 
the  domestic  beet-sugar  industry  on  foreign  countries. 
This  resulted  in  the  production  of  an  increased  amount 
of  home-grown  seed  in  1915,  the  planting  of  a  con- 
siderable area  in  1916  and  the  formation  of  plans  to 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  89 

increase  the  production  from  year  to  year,  with  the 
view  of  eventually  making  the  industry  independent 
of  foreign  countries  for  its  seed  supply. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  DOMESTIC  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 
PRODUCTION 

The  increasing  and  now  vital  importance  of  pro- 
ducing in  the  United  States  the  sugar-beet  seed  for  its 
domestic  requirements  is  recognized  by  the  U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture  and  by  Congress,  as  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  appropriation  bill  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  now  carries  an  annual 
appropriation  of  $10,000  for  experimental  work  with 
sugar-beet  seed. 

The  views  of  the  Department  are  set  forth  quite 
fully  in  the  Department's  1916  Year  Book  by  Dr. 
C.  O.  Townsend,  Pathologist  in  Charge  of  Sugar- 
Beet  Investigations,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  from 
which  the  following  extracts  are  reproduced: 

Owing  to  the  disturbed  agricultural  and  trade  conditions  in 
Europe  since  August,  1914,  the  importance  of  developing  an 
American  beet-seed  industry  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  meet  our 
requirements  has  become  imperative.  The  united  efforts  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  Department  of  State,  co- 


90  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

operating  with  the  beet-sugar  companies,  after  encountering 
many  difficulties  succeeded  in  securing  sufficient  beet  seed,  with 
the  surplus  then  on  hand,  to  meet  the  planting  requirements  in 
1915;  but  the  combined  efforts  of  those  agencies  failed  to  secure 
sufficient  seed  to  meet  the  requirements  in  1916,  with  the  result 
that  thousands  of  farmers  were  deprived  of  the  benefits  of  this 
crop,  a  number  of  mills  were  idle,  and  consequently  the  capital 
invested,  amounting  to  several  million  dollars,  was  unproductive. 

The  present  seed  requirements  of  the  beet-sugar  industry  in 
this  country  are  annually  not  less  than  150,000  sacks  of  1 10  pounds 
each.  In  order  to  insure  this  quantity  of  seed  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  have  not  less  than  16,000  acres  devoted  to  seed  pro- 
duction; less  than  one-fourth  of  this  acreage  was  harvested  in 
1916.  Seven  new  mills  were  erected  during  1916  and  plans 
are  under  way  for  a  still  larger  number  in  1917.  Assuming  the 
average  capacity  of  these  mills  to  be  1000  tons  of  roots  a  day, 
which  is  approximately  correct,  each  new  mill  will  require  10,000 
acres  of  beets  for  a  normal  run.  To  plant  10,000  acres  of  beets, 
200,000  pounds  of  seed,  the  product  of  approximately  200  acres 
of  land,  would  be  required  for  each  mill,  not  considering  the 
necessary  replanting.  It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  the  present 
acreage  in  seed  will  do  little  more  than  care  for  the  possible  ex- 
pansion of  the  beet-sugar  industry  and  that  the  quantity  of 
seed  which  must  be  imported  will  remain  approximately  the 
same  as  heretofore. 

The  beet-sugar  industry  in  the  United  States  is  composed  of 
three  distinct  branches,  namely,  beet-seed  production,  sugar- 
beet  growing,  and  beet-sugar  extraction  and  refining.  They  are 
so  linked  that  each  is  dependent  upon  the  others,  not  only  for 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  91 

its  complete  success,  but  for  its  existence.  Without  seed  the 
sugar-beet  industry,  in  which  more  than  70,000  American  farmers 
are  directly  interested,  could  not  exist,  and  without  beets  the 
84  beet-sugar  mills  now  standing,  with  an  invested  capital  of 
more  than  $100,000,000,  would  be  idle.  The  beet-seed  industry 
is,  of  course,  the  foundation  upon  which  sugar-beet  growing  and 
beet-sugar  extraction  rests.  Because  of  its  fundamental  char- 
acter, it  is  surprising  that  sugar-beet  seed  production  in  this 
country  has  not  received  more  general  and  more  earnest  atten- 
tion in  the  past.  The  two  primary  causes  that  have  operated 
against  the  development  of  the  sugar-beet  seed  industry  in  this 
country  were  (i)  the  fact  that  a  sufficient  quantity  of  seed  to 
meet  our  requirements  was  easily  obtainable  from  European 
countries  at  a  reasonable  price  and  (2)  the  prevailing  idea  that 
conditions  in  this  country,  from  the  standpoint  either  of  labor 
cost  or  of  climate,  would  not  permit  the  successful  development 
of  the  seed  industry  in  the  United  States.  Recent  experiences, 
however,  have  shown  the  folly  of  depending  upon  foreign  coun- 
tries for  our  beet-seed  supply,  while  experiments  extending 
over  many  years  have  proved  the  falsity  of  the  opinion  relative 
to  labor  and  climatic  conditions. 

PROGRESS  IN  AMERICAN  SUGAR-BEET  SEED  PRODUCTION 

The  earliest  efforts  toward  sugar-beet  culture  in  this  country, 
in  1830,  were  made  with  seed  brought  from  Europe.  When  the 
first  permanent  beet-sugar  mill  was  established  in  America, 
in  1879,  European  seed  was  used  to  produce  the  raw  material, 
and  even  at  the  present  time,  with  nearly  80  mills  in  operation, 


92  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

requiring  upward  of  750,000  acres  of  beets  to  insure  satisfactory 
runs,  farmers  are  still  depending  upon  foreign  countries  for  the 
major  portion  of  their  seed.  It  is  true,  efforts  have  been  made 
in  certain  quarters  for  many  years  to  produce  sugar-beet  seed 
in  this  country,  but  prior  to  1914  they  were  largely  experimental. 
The  first  carefully  planned  effort  to  grow  sugar-beet  seed  in  the 
United  States  was  made  at  Schuyler,  Neb.,  in  1891.  These  ex- 
periments were  continued  for  several  years  under  the  direction 
of  Dr.  Harvey  W.  Wiley,  at  that  time  chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Chemistry  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 
The  results  with  this  seed,  in  comparison  with  imported  vari- 
eties, showed  that  the  American-grown  seed  had  a  higher  vitality 
and  that  the  roots  produced  from  this  seed  possessed  a  higher 
sugar  content  and  gave  heavier  yield  than  any  of  the  imported 
varieties  tested. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture conducted  experiments  in  sugar-beet  seed  growing  at 
Fairfield,  Wash.,  with  results  similar  to  those  obtained  at  Schuyler, 
Neb.,  with  reference  to  both  the  vitality  of  the  seed  and  the  quality 
,and  weight  of  roots  produced.  For  many  years  several  sugar 
companies  have  grown  small  quantities  of  commercial  sugar- 
beet  seed,  and  within  the  past  year  two  of  these  beet-sugar 
companies  have  greatly  increased  their  beet -seed  acreage.  In 
some  cases  the  roots  used  for  this  purpose  have  been  produced 
from  the  commercial  imported  seed,  while  in  other  instances 
special  seed  was  used.  The  results  of  these  tests  have  been 
successful  from  the  standpoint  of  germination  of  the  seed  and 
the  yield  and  quality  of  the  roots  produced.  While  .there  is 
abundant  proof,  therefore,  that  sugar-beet  seed  satisfactory  in 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  93 

every  particular  can  be  grown  in  this  country,  few,  if  any,  dis- 
tinct American  strains  of  sugar  beets  have  been  established  and 
used  for  commercial  beet-seed  production.  All  experience  in 
breeding  and  selection  in  this  and  in  other  lines  would  indicate 
that  such  strains  when  properly  established  and  thoroughly 
acclimated  if  generally  used  for  beet  producton  will  yield  even 
better  results  than  have  been  obtained  in  the  experiments  already 
carried  out.  *  *  * 

PRESENT  PROBLEMS 

As  a  result  of  existing  conditions  surrounding  the  sugar-beet 
seed  situation  in  this  country  two  problems  are  confronting 
the  beet  growers  and  sugar  producers  at  this  time,  namely,  the 
production  of  a  sufficient  quantity  of  seed  to  meet  the  present 
planting  requirements  and  the  establishment  in  this  country 
of  a  permanent  beet-seed  industry  which  shall  meet  our  future 
needs.  These  requirements  relate  not  only  to  the  quantity  of 
seed  necessary  to  plant  the  desired  acreage,  but  also  to  the  qual- 
ity of  the  seed  and  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  roots  which 
this  seed  is  capable  of  producing. 

******* 

See  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  52,  1897,  by  Dr.  H.  W.  Wiley. 

TYPES  OF  SUGAR  BEETS 

It  is  a  startling  fact  that  there  are  in  this  country  no  dis- 
tinct types  of  commercial  sugar  beets.  If,  for  example,  a  field 
of  a  given  variety  of  wheat  is  examined  it  will  be  noted  that 
practically  every  plant  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  every 


94  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

other  plant  in  the  field,  but  this  is  not  true  of  the  sugar  beet. 
In  any  commercial  sugar-beet  field  from  Michigan  to  California, 
without  regard  to  the  name  of  the  so-called  variety,  can  be  found 
from  6  to  20  or  more  distinct  types  of  beets.  Their  distinction 
may  be  based  upon  shape,  texture,  habit  of  growth,  color,  and 
other  characters  of  the  leaf,  as  well  as  upon  shape,  texture,  quality, 
etc.,  of  the  root.  In  fact,  scarcely  two  beets  growing  side  by  side 
in  the  same  field  have  closely  related  external  characters  of  leaf 
or  root,  and  the  quality  of  the  roots  varies  in  both  sugar  and 
purity. 

Equally  wide  variations  may  be  found  in  the  beet-seed  fields, 
especially  with  reference  to  habit  of  growth  and  yield  of  seed. 
It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  these  so-called  strains  are  badly 
mixed  in  the  process  of  growth  and  production  or  that  many 
strains  or  varieties  are  mixed  before  the  seed  is  sacked.  It  would 
seem,  however,  from  the  large  number  of  wide  variations  in 
the  individual  beets  produced  from  commercial  seed,  that  the 
mixed  strains  or  varieties  appearing  in  commercial  fields  are  due 
more  to  the  method  of  growth  than  to  artificial  mixing.  It 
may  be,  and  probably  is,  necessary  to  have  mixed  strains,  tfr 
crosses,  in  order  to  combine  in  one  plant  all  the  desirable  qual- 
ities of  weight,  sugar,  and  purity.  It  would  seem,  however, 
that  little  progress  can  be  made  in  the  development  of  desirable 
strains  of  beets  until  the  present  mixed  varieties  are  separated 
into  their  component  strains  and  the  desirable  strains  recom- 
bined  in  their  proper  relation.  It  is  no  more  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  such  a  mixture  of  the  present  types  of  sugar  beets  will 
give  the  best  results  in  yield  and  quality  of  roots  than  it  is  to 
assume  that  the  highest  results  in  live-stock  production  can  be 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  95 

reached  with  mixed  breeds  of  animals.  How  quickly  the  Duroc- 
Jersey  or  Poland  China  hog  is  recognized!  Farmers  might  have 
gone  on  raising  "razor  backs"  and  thought  they  were  producing 
pork  if  these  and  other  distinct  types  of  hogs  had  not  been 
developed. 

It  is  true  that  there  are  some  good  cows  in  a  mixed  herd  and 
not  all  pure  breeds  are  of  equal  value.  Likewise,  there  are  good 
sugar  beets  in  these  mixtures  that  are  now  called  by  distinct  names 
and  not  all  individuals  of  a  pure  type  will  be  of  equal  value, 
but  the  average  in  both  quality  and  yield  is  far  below  the  limit 
of  possibilities,  and  the  highest  plane  of  development  of  the 
sugar  beet  will  not  be  reached  until  distinct  strains  or  types 
are  produced  and  fixed,  so  that  they  will  come  true  from  year 
to  year.  It  will  then  be  possible  to  work  with  the  individual 
beet  as  the  unit  upon  which  the  quality  and  yield  of  roots  may 
be  based,  with  a  reasonable  expectation  that  material  and  per- 
manent improvement  in  quality  and  yield  of  roots  may  be  pro- 
duced by  eliminating  the  poorer  and  less  desirable  individuals. 
It  is  not  probable  that  in  these  pure  strains  the  highest  develop- 
ment of  both  size  and  quality  will  be  found  in  any  one  strain. 
but  it  is  necessary  first  to  have  the  pure  strains  and  to  know 
definitely  the  characters  they  possess  and  are  capable  of  trans- 
mitting before  the  necessary  steps  can  be  taken  to  produce  by 
crossing  the  permanent  types  in  which  the  roots  shall  possess 
the  desired  qualities  of  sugar,  purity,  and  yield.  At  the  same 
time  this  line  of  work  should  develop  seed-producing  plants  of 
uniform  type,  with  reference  to  both  habit  of  growth  of  seed 
stalks  and  date  of  maturity  of  seed.  The  development  of  uni- 
form types  is  of  vital  importance  not  only  with  reference  to  the 


96  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

yield  and  quality  of  roots  and  seed,  but  also  with  reference  to  the 
cost  of  production.  The  first  step,  therefore,  in  the  develop- 
ment of  a  permanent  beet-seed  industry  in  this  country  lies 
in  the  direction  of  the  development  of  true  types  with  reference 
to  both  seed  beets  and  seed  production. 


CONCLUSIONS 

The  highest  development  of  the  beet-sugar  industry  in  the 
United  States  depends  upon  the  establishment  of  an  American 
beet-seed  industry  capable  of  meeting  the  requirements  of  the 
American  sugar-beet  grower  and  the  beet-sugar  producer. 

Our  experience  thus  far  indicates  that  American  sugar-beet 
seed  is  usually  superior  in  germination  and  capable  of  producing 
larger  and  better  roots  than  the  imported  seed. 

Our  soil  and  climatic  conditions,  extending  over  large  areas, 
favor  the  production  of  sugar-beet  seed  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  meet  all  future  requirements. 

Well-defined  strains  of  sugar  beets  of  high  yield  and  quality 
are  essential  to  the  development  of  a  satisfactory  seed  industry. 
Enough  has  been  done  to  prove  that  by  careful  and  painstaking 
work  such  strains  can  be  produced. 

No  intelligent  study  of  cultural  methods  in  the  production  of 
sugar  beets  or  of  problems  involving  a  comparison  of  varieties 
can  be  made  until  uniform  and  fixed  varieties  with  which  to 
work  are  available. 

The  production  of  strains  having  roots  of  uniform  size  and  habit 
of  growth  and  capable  of  yielding  seed  stalks  uniform  in  habit 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  97 

and  growth  and  maturity  should  make  possible  improved  cul- 
tural methods,  especially  in  the  planting  of  the  roots  and  in  the 
harvesting  of  the  seed,  that  will  reduce  greatly  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction. 


WORLD    PRODUCTION    OF    SUGAR-BEET    SEED 

The  twenty  million  tons  of  sugar  annually  produced 
in  the  world  is  derived  about  equally  from  sugar-beets 
and  from  sugar-cane.  The  cane  itself  provides  the 
tops  and  stalks  with  which  to  replant  or  extend  the 
cane  area,  but  beet  seed  of  the  best  quality  can  not  be 
produced  in  many  of  the  sugar-beet  areas  of  the 
world,  and  without  such  seed,  no  country  can  pro- 
duce beet  sugar  at  a  profit. 

To  produce  the  10,000,000  tons  of  beet-sugar,  20 
countries  have  invested  upwards  of  one  billion  dollars 
in  the  erection  of  1350  beet-sugar  factories,  the  first 
requisite  for  the  successful  operation  of  which  is  an 
adequate  supply  of  high  grade  sugar-beet  seed,  without 
which  failure  would  be  certain. 

That  the  production  and  control  of  most  of  this 
seed  is  vested  in  less  than  a  dozen  wealthy  seed  growers, 
some  of  whom  employ  $20,000,000  in  their  seed- 
growing  operations,  all  of  whom  are  located  in  the 
Province  of  Saxony,  the  total  area  of  which  is  less  than 


98  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

that  of  three  counties  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  is  a  fact 
of  more  than  ordinary  significance. 

The  production  of  one-half  of  the  world's  sugar  is 
dependent  upon  the  dicta  of  a  small  group  of  men 
in  one  country  and  upon  the  favorable  or  unfavorable 
weather  conditions  which  prevail  over  a  few  square 
miles  of  territory.  If  for  any  reason  this  handful  of 
growers  should  decline  to  furnish  seed,  or  should  a 
succession  of  unfavorable  seasons  ensue,  the  beet- 
sugar  industry  of  the  world  would  be  prostrated  and 
the  world  would  be  compelled  to  reduce  its  consump- 
tion of  sugar  until  seed  could  be  produced  elsewhere. 

Instances  are  not  lacking  where  great  manufacturing 
industries  are  more  or  less  dependent  upon  foreign 
countries  for  some  portion  of  their  raw  material,  but 
for  the  production  of  a  great  food  necessity  to  be 
dependent  upon  so  few  men  and  so  small  an  area 
is  without  a  parallel. 

Selection  in  plant  life  dates  back  thousands  of  years, 
but  Vilmorin  originated  new  and  valuable  methods 
of  selection,  as  a  result  of  which  the  French  seed  for 
many  years  was  the  best  in  the  world;  as  late  as 
1837  Vilmorin's  seed  sold  at  25  to  75  cents  per  pound 
when  seed  grown  in  Germany  sold  at  6j  cents  per 
pound. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  99 

As  the  beet-sugar  industry  began  to  spread  from 
France  to  Germany  and  other  countries,  they  com- 
menced to  grow  sugar-beet  seed,  but  Germany  soon 
put  forth  such  efforts  to  produce  this  primary  essen- 


P.  Louis  LEVEQUE  DE  VILMORIN 
First  to  devise  methods  for  increasing  the  sugar  content  of  the  beet. 

tial  to  the  industry  that  growers  of  other  countries 
soon  were  driven  from  the  markets  of  the  world  and 
Germany  secured  a  practical  monopoly  of  the  busi- 
ness. France,  Holland,  and  Austria  still  export  small 


100 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


11 


3 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  101 

quantities  of  native  seed,  but  most  of  their  domestic 
requirements  are  imported  from  Germany. 

For  some  years  Russian  seed  growers  have  pro- 
duced most  of  the  seed  for  Russia's  domestic  sowings, 
and  recently,  a  small  quantity  for  export.  As  soon 
as  the  Germans  realized  that  seed  of  as  high  a  quality 
as  that  produced  in  Germany  could  be  produced  in 
certain  sections  of  a  few  of  the  governments  of  south- 
western Russia  where  both  land  and  labor  were  ex- 
ceedingly cheap,  the  leading  German  seed  growers 
proceeded  to  acquire  large  holdings  of  the  choicest 
lands  in  those  sections  where  they  established  exten- 
sive seed  farms.  The  scientific  work  is  done  in  Ger- 
many, where  all  the  selections  and  tests  are  made 
with  which  to  produce  elite  seed,  which  latter  is  shipped 
to  Russia  and  sowed  for  the  commercial  crop;  this  is 
harvested  and  shipped  to  Germany  and  marketed 
from  there,  either  as  Russian  or  as  German-grown 
seed. 

Germany  and  Russia  furnish  the  seed  for  90  per 
cent,  of  all  the  beet  sugar  produced  in  the  world; 
69  per  cent,  of  the  world  crop  is  from  German-grown 
seed;  78  per  cent,  of  all  the  beet  sugar  produced  out- 
side of  Russia  and  Germany  is  from  German-grown 
seed. 


102 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  103 

Throughout  the  world  about  6,000,000  acres  are 
devoted  to  sugar  beets.  Based  en  an  average  sowing 
of  20  pounds  of  seed  per  acre  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  30  pounds  in  Russia  and  25  pounds  in  all 
other  countries,  1,430,000  bags,  or  78,650  tons  of  sugar- 
beet  seed  are  required  annually,  the  value  of  which 
at  the  usual  pre-war  price  of  85  cents  per  pound, 
is  $14,000,000.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  war  in 
Europe  the  cost  of  seed,  laid  down  in  the  United  States 
has  risen  from  $9.35  to  $25.00  per  bag  of  no  pounds. 

The  normal  sugar-beet  seed  crop  of  Germany  is 
621,000  bags,  of  Russia  660,000  bags,  a  total  of  1,281,000 
bags  for  the  two  countries,  or  90  per  cent,  of  the  total 
production  of  all  countries.  While  Russia  does  not 
produce  as  much  sugar  as  does  Germany,  its  sugar- 
beet  area  exceeds  that  of  Germany  by  nearly  a  half 
million  acres  and  Russia  sows  20  per  cent,  more  seed 
to  the  acre.  As  a  result,  most  of  the  seed  grown  in 
Russia  is  required  for  domestic  sowing. 

Not  including  the  seed  sown  in  Germany  and  Russia, 
the  annual  seed  requirements  of  the  world  amount 
to  about  600,000  bags,  of  which  470,000  bags  or  78 
per  cent,  is  supplied  by  Germany  from  its  domestic 
product  and  from  the  200,000  bags  it  grows  in,  or 
purchases  and  imports  from  Russia. 


104  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

Before  the  war  in  Europe  most  of  the  American 
requirements  of  sugar-beet  seed  were  purchased  in 
Germany.  After  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  American 
factories  failed  to  secure  an  adequate  supply  of  seed 
from  Germany  and  turned  to  Russia,  with  the  result 
that  in  1916,  175,000  bags  were  secured,  most  of 
which  was  sowed  in  the  spring  of  1917.  For  the  1918 
planting,  only  domestic  and  Russian  seed  is  available. 

At  the  present  time  the  beet-sugar  world  outside  of 
the  Central  Powers  and  contiguous  neutral  countries 
is  relying  solely  upon  Russia  for  its  imports  of  sugar- 
beet  seed. 

Assuming  that  the  German  control  of  Russian  seed 
production  does  not  extend  beyond  the  German  im- 
ports of  Russian  seed,  the  dependence  of  the  world 
upon  German  seed  in  1913  was  as  follows: 

Tons. 
Sugar  produced    in  Germany,  from  German 

grown  seed 3,003,768 

Sugar  produced  in  other  countries  from  German 

grown  seed 3,793,365 

Total  sugar  produced  from  German  grown  seed  6,797,133 
Sugar  produced  in  Russia,  from  Russian 

grown  seed 1,918,443 

Sugar  produced  by  seed,  other  than  German 

and  Russian .".   1,067,924 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


105 


106 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


O  fY^ 

H  w 

H  >•} 

U  N 

W  ^ 


55 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


107 


108 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  109 


UNITED   STATES  PRODUCTION   OF  SUGAR-BEET 

SEED 

For  several  years  past,  sugar-beet  seed  has  been 
produced  in  the  United  States  from  imported  elite 
seed  and  even  from  the  seed  of  commercial  beets, 
which  is  equal  in  every  other  respect  and  higher  in 
germinating  power  than  imported  seed.  The  higher 
germinating  power  of  American  seed  is  accounted  for 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  freshly  grown,  whereas,  in  Europe, 
the  seed  frequently  is  a  mixture  of  old  and  new  crops. 

Because  of  the  high  price  of  American  farm  labor 
the  cost  of  production  is  greater  in  the  United  States 
than  in  Russia,  where  most  of  the  field  work  is  done 
by  women  who  work  in  the  fields  from  daylight  to 
dark  for  an  average  wage  of  17 \  cents  per  day,  and 
in  Germany,  where  they  receive  28^  cents  per  day. 
But  because  of  the  higher  germinating  power  of  Amer- 
ican seed,  an  equally  good  stand  of  beets  can  be  se- 
cured with  less  seed  per  acre  and  the  saving  in  the 
quantity  of  seed  sown  will  offset  a  portion  of  the 
increased  cost  per  pound. 

Since  the  difficulty  arose  in  obtaining  foreign  seed, 
several  American  beet-sugar  manufacturers  have  ex- 


110  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

tended  their  seed  sowings  and  the  members  of  the 
United  States  Sugar  Manufacturers'  Association,  who 
produce  95  per  cent,  of  all  domestic  beet-sugar, 
have  formed  a  cooperative  seed-growing  company 
with  a  cash  capital  of  $300,000;  this  company  has 
leased  a  large  area  of  farming  land  and  is  now 
operating  extensive  seed  farms  in  the  State  of  Idaho. 
At  a  cost  of  $50,000,  the  company  secured  in  Europe 
50  bags  of  pedigreed  " elite"  seed  which  was  planted 
in  the  spring  of  1916.  This  company  also  planted 
several  thousand  tons  of  mothers,  selected  from  the 
best  commercial  beets  growing  in  the  State  of  Idaho. 

The  Great  Western  Sugar  Company  of  Denver, 
Colorado,  has  been  experimenting  in  sugar-beet  seed 
growing  since  1910.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  war 
in  Europe  this  company  has  greatly  increased  its 
output  of  seed,  which  is  grown  in  Colorado,  Montana 
and  Nebraska. 

A  number  of  the  Michigan  sugar  companies  have  be- 
gun to  raise  seed,  and  are  now  devoting  several  hundred 
acres  to  this  crop.  California  sugar  companies  also 
are  devoting  some  acreage  to  seed  production.  As  a 
result  of  these  efforts  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  seed  for 
the  1918  United  States  sowings  will  be  raised  at  home. 

A  large  portion  of  the  seed  which  the  cooperative 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  111 

seed  company  is  producing  in  Idaho  is  grown  from 
the  highest  pedigreed  European  " elite"  seed,  which 
is  imported  at  a  cost  of  $7.00  to  $10.00  per  pound. 
It  represents  the  result  of  the  highest  skill  of  the 
European  sugar-beet  seed  growers;  has  passed  all 
the  searching  physical  and  chemical  examinations  and 
is  equal  to  the  elite  seed  which  the  European  growers 
themselves  plant  for  producing  their  commercial  seed 
in  Germany  and  Russia.  The  Great  Western  Sugar 
Company  also  is  importing  "elite"  seed  for  some  of 
its  plantings.  In  other  cases,  selections  of  mothers 
are  made  from  beets  grown  from  commercial  seed. 

However,  whether  produced  from  commercial  seed 
or  from  imported  " elite"  seed,  the  effort  to  grow 
sugar-beet  seed  in  America  is  as  yet  little  more  than 
an  elemental  proposition,  for  unless  the  greatest  care 
and  attention  be  given  each  year  to  selections,  the 
quality  of  the  beets  soon  begins  to  deteriorate,  when 
a  new  start  must  be  made  from  freshly  imported  seed. 
The  character  of  the  seed  which  we  now  purchase 
from  Europe  indicates  that  commercialism  is  sadly 
interfering  with  their  science  in  seed  production.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  that  both  elite  and  com- 
mercial foreign  seed  are  mixtures  of  different  varieties 
of  seed  or  are  grown  where  they  cross  pollinate  with 


112  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

other  types  of  seed  grown  in  nearby  fields.  In  any 
commercial  field  of  beets  in  this  country  there  can  be 
found  from  six  to  twenty  distinct  types  of  beets, 
varying  in  shape,  texture,  habit  of  growth,  color, 
sugar  content,  purity,  etc  It  is  found  that  when 
these  beets  are  classified  according  to  type  and  planted 
for  seed,  they  reproduce  true  to  the  type  of  the 
mother.  Inasmuch  as  some  types  yield  better  results 
than  do  others,  it  necessarily  follows  that  the  highest 
general  results  only  can  be  secured  by  beginning  at 
the  very  foundation  and  producing  our  own  elite  seed. 
As  well  expect  to  secure  satisfactory  results  by  mix- 
ing the  breed  of  Jersey,  Holstein  and  Durham  cattle 
instead  of  breeding  them  separately  and  building  up 
each  breed,  as  to  expect  to  secure  maximum  results 
in  beet  culture  from  a  mixture  of  types  of  beets. 
Starting  with  the  best  elite  seed  to  be  had,  the  result- 
ant beets  must  be  separated  and  classified  according 
to  type,  the  best  types  must  be  improved  by  selection 
and  cross  breeding  from  year  to  year,  and  from  these 
constantly  improving  and  highly  developed  types, 
produce  our  commercial  seed.  Instead  of  deteriorat- 
ing when  planted  in  this  country  and  allowed  to  re- 
produce, the  new  crop  of  seed  frequently  has  produced 
richer  beets  than  were  the  mothers  from  which  they 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT  113 

sprung.  That  the  effort  to  improve  the  beet  is  worth 
while,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  if  from  the  6j  million 
tons  of  sugar  beets  produced  by  American  farmers 
last  year,  an  increased  sugar  extraction  of  i  per  cent 
had  been  secured,  we  would  have  produced  125,000,000 
more  pounds  of  sugar,  worth  $9,000,000  at  present 
wholesale  prices. 

Not  until  America  ceases  to  depend  upon  Europe  for 
the  scientific  work  which  produces  the  elite  seed  which 
we  import,  and  builds  up  distinctly  American  strains 
of  seed,  will  domestic  sugar-beet  seed  production  free 
itself  from  the  domination  of  Europe  and  assume  the 
appearance  of  a  real  American  industry,  thereby 
relieving  the  domestic  beet-sugar  industry  from  de- 
pendence upon  Germany  for  its  existence. 

To  secure  the  highest  results,  sugar-beet  seed  cul- 
ture requires  the  most  fertile  lands  which  are  to  be 
had,  as  well  as  years  of  most  careful  and  scientific 
fertilization  and  working.  Such  lands  in  the  vicinity 
of  Magdeburg  are  held  at  as  high  as  $1000  per  acre. 

Unless  precedent  established  by  nearly  a  century's 
experience  in  Europe  counts  for  naught,  to  establish 
the  sugar-beet  seed  industry  in  the  United  States 
means  the  investment  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  in  single-unit  farms,  each  covering  several 


114  SUGAR-BEET  SEED 

thousand  acres,  and  the  carrying  on  of  general  farming 
operations  in  order  properly  to  rotate  and  build  up 
the  soil.  Vast  areas  of  suitable  land  are  to  be  had 
in  the  United  States  at  a  fraction  of  the  value  of  lands 
which  are  used  for  this  purpose  in  Europe.  On  these 
farms  thousands  of  dollars  must  be  expended  in 
laboratories  and  laboratory  equipment,  in  storage 
warehouses  and  in  the  multitude  of  other  necessary 
buildings  and  machinery.  To  operate  these  farms  suc- 
cessfully means  the  creation  of  organizations  comprising 
both  executive  and  scientific  ability  of  the  highest 
degree. 

Given  the  proper  quantity  and  quality  of  land, 
the  equipment  and  the  organization,  strains  of  sugar- 
beet  seed  will  be  developed  in  the  United  States  which 
will  surpass  the  best  strains  in  Europe.  The  cost  per 
pound  to  produce  will  be  higher  than  in  Europe,  but 
the  extra  cost  will  be  largely  offset  by  the  superior 
quality  of  the  seed,  not  to  mention  the  benefits  the 
country  will  derive  from  the  establishment  of  a  new 
scientific  industry  and  the  freeing  of  the  domestic 
beet-sugar  industry  from  dependence  upon  Europe. 


ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


115 


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Austria-Hungary 
Roumania  
Russia  in  Europ 
Sweden  

Servia  
Spain  
Canada  
United  States.  . 

1 

Russia  to  Germa 

116 


SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


VALUE  OF  EXPORTS  OF  SUGAR-BEET  SEED  FROM 
GERMANY  TO  VARIOUS  COUNTRIES,  AND  FROM 
RUSSIA  INTO  GERMANY 

From  Auswartiger  Handel,  Statistik  des  Deutschen  Reichs 


1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

Dollars 

Dollars 

Dollars 

Dollars 

Dollars 

Dollars 

Belgium. 

192,780 

140,420 

339,150 

391,272 

456,960 

359,142 

Bulgaria  

4-998 

9,758 

11,900 

Denmark  

66,640 

35,700 

72,590 

108,052 

105,910 

118,048 

France  

403,i72 

329,868 

528,360 

676,872 

749,700 

766,360 

Italy  

98,294 

108,766 

104,006 

H4.478 

223,958 

154-700 

Netherlands  

107,338 

95,438 

143.514 

211,106 

188,020 

203,728 

Austria-Hungary.  .  . 

1,215,942 

869,652 

1,680,756 

1,560,090 

2,647,274 

1,529,864 

Roumania  

37,842 

35,462 

76,160 

69,258 

77.H2 

76.874 

Russia  in  Europe.  .  . 

526,456 

340,102 

785,638 

425,306 

418,404 

307,972 

Sweden 

122,332 

85,204 

200,634 

170,646 

148,036 

74,732 

Servia  

27,846 

6,426 

19,278 

11,900 

Spain  

112,098 

65,926 

44.982 

69,020 

193,970 

192,304 

Canada  

11,900 

United  States  

522,886 

416,262 

733,278 

462,672 

727,566 

751,128 

Total  

3,405,780 

2,522,800 

4,748,814 

4,270,196 

5,965,946 

4,558,652 

Russia  to  Germany. 

462,196 

340,102 

328,440 

480,522 

1.140,258 

2,960,006 

ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


117 


VALUE  PER  FOUND  OF  EXPORTS  OF  SUGAR-BEET 
SEED  FROM  GERMANY  TO  VARIOUS  COUNTRIES, 
AND  FROM  RUSSIA  INTO  GERMANY 

From  Auswartiger  Handel,  Statistik  des  Deutschen  Reichs 


1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

191  1 

1912 

Cents 

Cents 

Cents 

Cents 

Cents 

Cents 

per  Ib. 

per  Ib. 

per  Ib. 

per  Ib. 

per  Ib. 

per  Ib. 

Belgium 

s  •  96 

4-  75 

8.74 

8  .  93    - 

8  .  30 

12  .  OQ 

Bulgaria. 

7.66 

7  -48 

10  .  95 

Denmark  

5-63 

4-74 

9-79 

9-37 

7.66 

10.67 

France  

6.25 

5.40 

7.  19 

9-45 

8.72 

II  .56 

Italy  

5-79 

5-4° 

8.76 

8.06 

9-17 

10.63 

Netherlands  

S./8 

5-39 

6.54 

6.46 

8.77 

ii  .  14 

Austria-Hungary  .  .  . 

5-34 

4-75 

7-73 

8.50 

8.57 

ii  .58 

Roumania  

5.84 

4-75 

9.60 

8.24 

8.08 

17-64 

Russia  in  Europe  ..  . 

5.56 

5-i8 

9.23 

10.  O2 

9.63 

11-54 

Sweden 

5  •  74 

4  •  76 

10  .  80 

9.01 

7  •  70 

8.83 

Servia  

9.88 

9.08 

6.37 

6.40 

Spain  

6.24 

5-39 

7-95 

9-77 

9.46 

13    13 

Canada  

7.28 

United  States  

6.25 

5-40 

7-31 

7.28 

7-46 

9.07 

Average 

5  .  7  1 

5  •  °5 

8  .  01 

8.55 

8.47 

11.07 

Russia  to  Germany. 

5.6i 

5.i8 

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SUGAR-BEET  SEED 


FRANCE 

SUGAR-BEET  SEED 
Excerpt  from  Die  Deutsche  Zuckerindustrie,  Ap.  14,  1916,  p.  41 


IMPORTS. 

EXPORTS. 

1916 

iQiS 

1914 

1913 

1916 

1915 

1914 

1913 

Bags 

20 

Bags 
44.400 

Bags 
93,800 

Bags 
86,020 

Bags 
900 

Bags 
5,58o 

Bags 

49,720 

Bags 
30,420 

EXPORTS  OF  RUSSIAN  SUGAR-BEET  SEED   INTO 
GERMANY,   1907  TO  1913  INCLUSIVE 


Years. 

Bags. 

U.  S.  Pounds. 

Total  Value 
in  Dollars. 

Value  in 
Cents  per  Ib. 

1907 

74.684 

8,232,417 

462,196 

5.61 

1908 

59,542 

6,563,315 

340,102 

5.18 

1909 

65,690 

7,241,009 

328,440 

4-54 

1910 

50,484 

5,564,851 

480,522 

8.63 

191  1  * 

212,950 

23,473,479 

1,140,258 

4.86 

1912 

146,322 

16,129,074 

2,960,006 

I8.3S 

1913 

208,658 

23,000,371 

Total  

818,330 

90,204,516 

5,711,524 

Average  Value 

6.33 

*  Severe  drouth  in  Germany. 


EXPORTS  OF  RUSSIAN  SUGAR-BEET   SEED   INTO 
AUSTRIA 


Year. 

Bags. 

Total  Value 
in  Dollars. 

U.  S.  Pounds. 

Value  in 
Cents  per  Ib. 

1909 

16,316 

87,346 

1,798,513 

4.86 

Russia.     Excerpted  from  Ausw&rtige  Handel,  Statistik  des  Deutschen  Reichs, 
Vol.  197,  p.  18,  for  1907  and  1908.     Vol.  231,  for  1909,  P-  S  (20-6). 
For  1910,  1911,  and  1912,  Vol.  260,  p.  8. 

For  1913,  Month  issue  of  Ausw&rtige  Handel,  December,  1913,  p.  12. 
Austria.     Excerpted  from  Statistik  des  Deutschen  Recihs,  issued  in  1910,  p.  5. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


13  193 


JUN  I     1960 


MAR   27   1936 


APR   281 19$ 


HECOL.O 


^fHT 


LD  21-100m-7,'33 


.3777 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


